by Medius » Fri Nov 02, 2012 6:50 pm
Here, let's look at the patents infringed:
'381 - Bounce Back
When you scroll beyond a particular edge of what you are viewing, it bounces back the middle.
Medius Verdict: Bad Patent, Obvious UI Feature, Android Feature (not Samsung)
'915 - Pinch to Zoom
Using one finger to scroll through a page and two fingers to zoom in and out.
Medius Verdict: Bad Patent, Obvious use of Touchscreen, Android Feature (not Samsung)
'163 - Tapping Twice on the Screen to Zoom
Tapping twice on the screen zooms in and zooms out.
Medius Verdict: Bad Patent, Obvious use of Touchscreen, Android Feature (not Samsung)
D'677 - Rectangle
Rounded rectangular front with edge to edge glass.
Medius Verdict: Bad Patent, Obvious Combination of Technologies (maximized screen, rounded edges for comfort and drop resistance, all buttons in the obvious places that buttons go)
D'087 - Back of the Phone
Who the hell knows.
Medius Verdict: There's like one thing on the back of an apple phone, the camera. I have no idea how you can patent where a camera goes on a limited surface. Bad Patent.
D'305 - Home Screen Design
Apple owns icons, square icons with rounded corners, placing icons in a grid....
Medius Verdict: Bad Patent, Obvious design choice with limited real-estate, Android (not Samsung)
Final Verdict: The patent office needs to get with the freaking times and learn about technology. Programming in general, especially UI design, is a shared concept that should not be patentable. There is almost nothing in programming that deserves a patent as it is all built upon a shared construct. Almost everything you do in programming is obvious and developed in parallel at multiple sources. So much so, that there are actually standards and best practices across the programming world for everything from algorithms to usability design.