

Apple granted patent for touchscreen unlock - wgx
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/technology-15461732

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alexchamberlain
This is a disgusting abuse of the patent system. How else would one unlock a
phone these days? They have had the vast majority of their buttons removed -
:D. I give it a week before Samsung have a court throw this patent in the
dustbin.

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wgx
>"these days?"

This is hindsight bias - when Apple invented the 'swipe to unlock' it was a
novel invention, exactly the idea the patent system is designed to protect.
It's quite right that novel inventions be protected under patent law.

Whether you agree with the wider concept of patent or not, this can't be abuse
of the current system.

