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German Court Finds Apple's 'Slide To Unlock' Patent Invalid
New submitter anderzole writes "Germany's Federal Patent Court on Thursday invalidated all of Apple's claims for its slide-to-unlock patent. They death blow for Apple's slide to unlock patent was likely a Swedish phone called the Neonode N1m that launched well before the iPhone and featured its own slide to unlock implementation. The N1m was released in 2005 while Apple's own patent for slide to unlock wasn't filed until December of 2005."
Now Apple should pay 1/10th of it's value as a penalty.
Result: no more stupid patents filled by thieves.
How did this nonsense patent even get granted in the first place? I've worked on getting patents filed, and we usually meet with all sorts of resistance even when there is actually something to the patent. Who is getting paid off to grant nonsense patents like this?
My great grandmother had slide-to-unlock locks on her luggage. I have a 100+ year old prior art for "slide to unlock." And I doubt that was the first. Deadbolts in castles from 1000+ years ago likely employed the same mechanism.
Learn to love Alaska
Apple phones are already almost water proof. There are videos of people putting them in tanks of water and they remain on the entire time. Google it.
For about $80 you can have any phone get a 'completely waterproof' coating applied to it, warrantied for 2 years, not just water-resistant.
I'm not an Apple hater, I've always thought they are amazing devices, but they just aren't the cutting edge leader in phone tech they once were. Attempting to keep their lead, Apple has been trying to kill the encroaching competition through frivolous patent lawsuits, and not doing too well at it. They should have innovated new killer tech instead of just treading water.
The iPhone popularized touchpad input, and that gave them the needed edge to become the leader in smartphones, they were the coolest phone then. That was a decade ago, and Apple just doesn't have that exclusiveness anymore. Android devices have caught up and in many ways surpassed iPhones. Apple continues on now based solely on customer loyalty.
Over a year ago I opted for the Android system due to its being less costly up front. Having been immersed in smartphone culture since, I've realized that smartphones are portable computers with internet/ bluetooth connectivity, that also have phone 'apps'. And an iPhone is basically an app player, with an alternate OS. They haven't come out with anything new that sets it apart from the competition. Unless the next iPhone has something the others don't, then Apple's had it's time in the sun.