Filed under: Apple Corporate, Odds and ends, iPhone
Apple wins comprehensive patent for iPhone, bares teeth at Palm
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple patent number 7,479,949 covering key aspects of the iPhone's multi-touch user interface.
The filing, with 358 pages of drawings and Steve Jobs as its first author, comprehensively describes the iPhone operating system's interface, and how hardware on the phone interprets finger movements and taps as instructions for the software. The filing makes liberal use of the word "heuristics" -- a trial-and-error-based engineering technique that reduces the calculations necessary to arrive at a solution to a problem. Heuristics may not always be correct, but good heuristics result in something at least close to the right answer.
This patent, combined with Tim Cook's statement about protecting Apple's intellectual property during their first-quarter conference call, is a shot across the bow for Palm and their new Pre smartphone. Cook said that Apple would aggressively defend their IP, and a patent covering that IP is an important shield for Apple.
AppleInsider also notes that the patent covers features not seen on the iPhone, but interestingly are critical features of the Palm Pre. For example, Apple's patent mentions a touch-sensitive area that does not display visual output: a dead-ringer for the Pre's gesture area, separate from the touch screen.
The Pre uses multi-touch gestures as part of its webOS interface. If the technologies in Palm's devices are found to infringe on Apple's patents, Palm will either have to change the way the device works, or license the technology from Apple. The likelihood of Apple granting Palm a license is slim to none.
[Via AppleInsider.]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tony Bowman said 4:15PM on 1-27-2009
the fit will almost hit the shan over this one.
Reply
Tony Bowman said 4:15PM on 1-27-2009
almost certainly*
russ said 4:55PM on 1-27-2009
you accidentally that whole comment
TVGenius said 4:20PM on 1-27-2009
"Current Time"
You mean they didn't patent 9:42am?
Reply
+. said 4:26PM on 1-27-2009
no, but i have, in fact, patented 4:20pm. pls to remove your comment, kthx.
:)
aclark78 said 4:23PM on 1-27-2009
Didn't Palm have patent issues before with their Graffiti hand writing recognition?
Reply
Wheels said 12:28AM on 1-28-2009
Yeah, Graffiti was a Xerox innovation, and Palm was infringing on it (actually not so much infringing as outright stealing). So Palm developed Graffiti II, which blew chunks.
major dave said 4:25PM on 1-27-2009
> The likelihood of Apple granting Palm a license is slim to none.
I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. How do we know that the iPhone isn't infringing some Palm patents? Palm has had many years in the mobile space to build up a portfolio. For all we know, many of their patents also include claims broader than anything embodied in a Palm product.
Very often, an infringement suit is answered by a countersuit, after which the first plaintiff suddenly sees the virtue of entering into a cross-license agreement. In fact, sane IP owners usually arrive at this result before filing papers and then losing face in public.
Reply
Orion said 4:30PM on 1-27-2009
I would. Apple is pretty smart when it comes to existing patents. They wouldn't make something like the iPhone unless they were sure they were in the clear. I'm sure they did their research.
Palm though probably thought "hey, there's no patent... we're in the clear!". I can't imagine the amount of money they'll lose by having to redesign the OS before it hits the market, ...or worse if they release it with no changes and get sued. They're kinda on their last breath, they needed a miracle. Looks like the Pre was it, and now might not be anymore.
Ah well, I seriously haven't bought a Palm product since the 1990s. They were revolutionary back in the day, but the company hasn't really produced anything of interest in a long time.
major dave said 4:48PM on 1-27-2009
You seem to be giving Apple credit for full foresight, and Palm none at all. In fact, most tech companies *forbid* their engineers from reading prior patents. Only the IP lawyers will be free to do this, and it's pretty easy for them to miss some implications.
If Palm doesn't have early patents with very broad claims for handheld devices, they screwed up. They could have made it almost impossible to build any kind of handheld computing device with downloadable applications, without infringing.
Did they? I don't know, but unlike with copyrights or trademarks, patent owners are free to pick and choose who they will sue, among known infringers, without diluting their rights. So their prior silence against other competition may not mean anything.
All I'm saying is, when Palm said "we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves," this is the scenario I thought of immediately.
Daniel Anderson Jr. said 4:26PM on 1-27-2009
I'm naive for sure but being an investor of AAPL in more ways than one, I would like to think they would be willing to license of certain crucial technologies. I mean, if, per unit, the license cost more than the profit of an iPhone wouldn't everybody win?
Reply
Orion said 4:34PM on 1-27-2009
Not if the Pre became wildly popular and iPhone sales started to plummet.
While they would make money on each Pre sold, costumers that would have bought other Apple products along with the iPhone would now not. The draw of devices like the iPod for Apple is not necessarily how well it sells by itself, but how much it makes people want to try Apple's computer line after being impressed with their portable. If you lose that, Apple could end up becoming how it was about 10 years ago....not such great shape compaired to today.
Ashton Tibbitt said 4:35PM on 1-27-2009
This kinda sucks. I'm happy for Apple. I was first in line for both the iPhone and iPhone 3G and I love them, but I was looking for something new and was looking forward to the Pre.
Hopefully this doesn't delay release. (Not that we know when that is anyway)
Reply
skwasha said 4:51PM on 1-27-2009
Does anyone else find it ironic that the patent image makes use of the "Instant Messages" screen?
Reply
lanejasper69 said 5:09PM on 1-27-2009
If Apple pulls this and doesn't allw Palm the "Pre" at least buy purchasing patent rights, then Apple can piss off and I'll never buy another product of theirs ever. I already banned their iTunes store over DRM last year, Fuck Apple!!!!!!
Reply
Kai Cherry said 12:28AM on 1-28-2009
You are aware right, that this policy has been changed?
Bob said 7:09PM on 1-27-2009
Yeah, damn iTunes. Especially since those nice record companies were so willing to give Apple non-DRM music. And, can you believe that their not offering more hi-def movies and TV shows, especially with the MPAA so willing to do this?!?!?
Idiot.
oliver hart said 4:59PM on 1-27-2009
First off, I tipped tuaw on this yesterday. Second, competition is GREAT. it means that apple would most likely have to step up and give our iPhones something the pre offers
Reply
brian said 8:59PM on 1-27-2009
Thirdly, the when the iPhone was introduced at Macworld TWO YEARS AGO, Steve said during the Keynote that they've got about 200 patents on it.
Fred said 5:04PM on 1-27-2009
Eh? I don't like this one bit. Apple didn't invent any of the underlying concepts for the iPhone. This where our patent laws really seem flawed.
Reply