slide to unlock | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 26 Aug 2015 12:32:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png slide to unlock | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Apple loses German court battle on ‘slide to unlock’ patent https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/matthew-wilson/apple-loses-german-court-battle-on-slide-to-unlock-patent/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/matthew-wilson/apple-loses-german-court-battle-on-slide-to-unlock-patent/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2015 12:31:24 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=264964 Apple just lost another fairly important court battle in Germany, over a patent for unlocking smartphones with a finger swipe. Judges yesterday ruled that the ‘slide to unlock' method isn't sophisticated enough in order to be awarded with patent protection. This could end up having an impact on another of Apple's legal battles in Germany. …

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Apple just lost another fairly important court battle in Germany, over a patent for unlocking smartphones with a finger swipe. Judges yesterday ruled that the ‘slide to unlock' method isn't sophisticated enough in order to be awarded with patent protection.

This could end up having an impact on another of Apple's legal battles in Germany. Back in 2012, Apple took Motorola to court based on the ‘slide to unlock' patent, though that case is currently pending an appeal. Now that this ruling has been made, the lawsuit with Motorola can proceed.

Slide to Unlock

Samsung had also at one point been involved in the Apple VS Motorola suit, though the company later withdrew. That hasn't stopped it from having plenty of other legal dramas with Apple, the company just last week asked the Supreme Court to take a look at the never ending Apple VS Samsung lawsuit, which covers many devices and patents.

Since a swipe finger gesture on a touchscreen smartphone isn't really an invention, Apple losing this one seems like a decent outcome. Apple has yet to comment on the outcome of yesterday's ruling.

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KitGuru Says: Apple has launched lawsuits over some pretty ridiculous patents. In the past, the company has taken issue with other companies using rounded edges on their smartphones and as we have seen today, it is still trying to uphold its finger swipe gesture patent. It will be interesting to see how this ruling affects Apple's case with Motorola going forward.

Via: Bloomberg

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HTC win UK patent ruling against Apple https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/slyvia/htc-win-uk-patent-ruling-against-apple/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/slyvia/htc-win-uk-patent-ruling-against-apple/#comments Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:42:28 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=98521 A high court in the United Kingdom has ruled against Apple in an HTC patent ruling. The court said that HTC did not infringe on Apple's photo management patent and three other patent claims were invalid. The court declared three patents invalid, including the ‘slide to unlock' feature seen on their devices. Apple said that …

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A high court in the United Kingdom has ruled against Apple in an HTC patent ruling. The court said that HTC did not infringe on Apple's photo management patent and three other patent claims were invalid.

The court declared three patents invalid, including the ‘slide to unlock' feature seen on their devices. Apple said that HTC had infringed on this with their smartphones and tablets. The court also ruled against Apple who claimed that a multi touch software used in Android 2.3 was infringed upon. The court said it was not patentable, with the Judge claiming it was a computer program.

HTC issued the following statement “HTC is pleased with the ruling, which provides further confirmation that Apple's claims against HTC are without merit. We remain disappointed that Apple continues to favor competition in the courtroom over competition in the marketplace.”

Kitguru says: HTC will be happy to get this victory in the UK, especially as they, like Samsung are locked in battle with Apple in various countries.

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Apple victorious in Germany, pain felt by Motorola is minimal https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/blair-mcclelland/apple-victorious-in-germany-pain-felt-by-motorola-is-minimal/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/blair-mcclelland/apple-victorious-in-germany-pain-felt-by-motorola-is-minimal/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:38:18 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=79280 Germany is well and truly Apple's stomping ground when it comes to anything related to lawsuits and today German courts have ruled in favour of Apple in a lawsuit against Motorola. Apple has been granted an injunction against Motorola for utilizing the “slide to unlock” style lockscreen which is patented by Apple in the EU …

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Germany is well and truly Apple's stomping ground when it comes to anything related to lawsuits and today German courts have ruled in favour of Apple in a lawsuit against Motorola. Apple has been granted an injunction against Motorola for utilizing the “slide to unlock” style lockscreen which is patented by Apple in the EU and the USA. The same patent is also currently being used against Samsung in California which is briefly mentioned in this article.

Before going any further, no, this does not mean Motorola phones and tablets are going to be banned from sale in Germany overnight. Motorola intends to appeal the ruling which is bound to take months to complete.

Image of the patent that Apple is using to get an injunction against Motorola in Germany.

Apple's patent covers the concept of moving a tracked image from left to right in order to unlock a phone. Looking at more recent versions of Android such as Honeycomb 3.x and Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Google has moved towards a circular lockscreen which the German court  has specifically said do not infringe on Apple's patents. This means that even if Motorola's appeal is rejected it is unlikely to have a major impact on Motorola and the larger world of Android.

Kitguru says: I am no fan of Apple's “slide to unlock” feature, nor their mob of lawyers for that matter. I'd prefer Android 4.0's more feature-rich lockscreen any day of the week.

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