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."

Comments

neonode info

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Tj-KS2kfIr0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonode

Re:neonode info

[Nerdfest]

It offends the Apple faithful. It is heretical. They're going to be a little touchy until Apple invents 'widgets' in iOS 7.

Now Apple should pay 1/10th of it's value

[Anonymous Coward]

Now Apple should pay 1/10th of it's value as a penalty.
Result: no more stupid patents filled by thieves.

Re:Where's the code to implement it?

[tepples]

Is pseudocode enough?

if no touch this frame: position = minimum
elif touch this frame and no touch last frame and not within 24px of minimum: wait for release
else: position = X coordinate of touch point
if position == maximum: return "activated"

Re:It's sad

[tqk]

That something like this even comes to court.

What's sad is something like this was awarded a patent. I have two (physical) slide to unlock buttons on the base of my laptop. Why were they awarded a patent for doing the same in software?!? How much time, money, and effort has that stupid decision sucked out of the numerous justice systems where this raised its head?

Re: It's sad

[Takatata]

Problem is if apple didnt patent it someone else would have filed a patent years later and sued apple

Yes.

It's a no win for apple, patent and they're the bad guy, don't patent and they get sued

No. Patents are not like trademarks. If you don't defend them you don't lose them. Maybe Apple is forced to patent silly stuff. Nobody would complain if this was all they do. But nobody forces Apple to be an ******* and actually use the silly patents to sue other companies. This makes them the bad guys.

Re: Apple is just another Electronics Company

[SternisheFan]

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.