

Apple gets patent for ‘unlock gesture’ - Sato
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/25/apple_unlock_patent/

======
alanh
If any software patents are valid, I think this one is legit.

Note that the Android unlock "grid" would not seem to be covered by this
patent, as reported by the Register. Because you aren’t moving a graphic
somewhere or along a path.

And I can’t think of prior art.

We all thought this was pretty cool is 2007. Remember? Before the iPhone,
phones had a physical "lock" switch and/or a clamshell mechanism that obviated
the need for unlock and/or you had to push star-zero, and tablets and PDAs had
power buttons and styluses, but no one had swipe to unlock.

It’s genuine innovation, easy enough to work around, and I don’t hold the
patent against them.

IANAL, etc.

------
jaddison
You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding.

It is patents like this that render the innovative entrepreneurial market to a
suffocating doom.

And no, it's not just Apple, of course - I'm not focussing on them
particularly. They were just lucky enough to be the subject of this HN post.

Disgusting.

------
talmand
Generally I dislike the idea of software patents but this is a tough one.
Mainly because it was a damn good idea and should be treated as such. I can
see maybe treating it as a design patent kind of thing like Apple is pursuing
against Samsung in Europe. If there's any debate it would be whether the task
warranted a patent in the first place since how else would you unlock a phone
by interacting with the touch screen if not by a gesture of some sort?

Did any touch screen devices even lock/unlock in the first place before the
iPhone? If so, how did you unlock them? Physical button maybe?

From my quick glance it seems to specifically cover the type of unlocking
gesture and design introduced with the iPhone so it may not cover all
unlocking actions in the market.

~~~
markkat
But it wasn't introduced with the iPhone:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Tj-
KS2kfIr0) 4 minutes in.

~~~
talmand
That's not quite the same thing. Apple's patent covers a basic UI to go with
the left-to-right gesture. In that video I see no UI to assist the user in
determining how to unlock the phone, it's only the gesture which is only a
small part of the patent.

------
zach
Users are delighted that Apple creates these little flourishes, the tiny
details that add character and engagement to things like the iPhone.

Many have noted and appreciated the focus that lead Steve Jobs and Jony Ive to
spend ages designing something consumers hardly notice.

And they've demonstrated quite well that the parts of a product which others
consider trivial and put little thought towards, are in fact the places where
a maker can demonstrate the care they have for the product, and by extension,
for customers.

But then when they turn around and patent them, the knives come out. Because
Apple staking a claim to these silly, trivial designs is ridiculous and
"disgusting".

It's going to be really hard to resolve these two viewpoints.

~~~
omnibot
This gesture existed before the iphone.

------
lazugod
What does it cost to license such a patent?

~~~
wmf
I'm guessing it costs exactly as much as the profit on one iPhone.

