Apple wins a core iPhone multitouch patent

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple the patent to one of the core iPhone multitouch functions. Patently Apple reports that the patent involves the oscillator signal and circuit, which are key to sensing when someone is touching the iPhone display. This comes on the heels of Apple winning a patent battle against HTC, which was followed by Apple being awarded the patent that covers the ability to switch to an app while on a phone call.

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Source: http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/12/apple-ad…

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple the patent to one of the core iPhone multitouch functions. Patently Apple...

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Paul

Apples R&D: months/years in the making. Design decisions debated endlessly. User tests. Prototypes. Almost complete prototypes scrapped and then sent back to the drawing board. Innovation: scrap the stylus when interacting with the touchscreen. This leads to multitouch and other innovative design.

Googles/Samsungs R&D: Buy iphone, copy.

December 29 2011 at 6:34 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

Erik N

A patent on the idea of switching to another app while on a phone call? Really?

December 28 2011 at 8:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Mark Langston

Maybe this'll make up for the lawsuit they lost against Samsung.

December 28 2011 at 6:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Mark Langston's comment

zoffdino

You can't blame Apple for protecting their butt wit every patent imaginable. Whether you like Apple or not, the fact remains that smart phone looked nothing like the iPhone before the iPhone. Now, every smart phone is similar to the iPhone to a large extent. From a patent standpoint, they may not have stepped on Apple's toes. But from a design perspective, the smartphones model had failed until Apple redefined it.

December 28 2011 at 9:53 PM Report abuse Permalink -1 rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to zoffdino's comment

shm

try LG Prada.

December 29 2011 at 12:44 AM Report abuse Permalink -1 rate up rate down