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Apple's pinch-to-zoom patent was filed on December 29, 2006, and covers a multitouch display that a) detects two contacts; b) which perform a gesture; c) which
by danudey 14y ago
Apple's pinch-to-zoom patent was filed on December 29, 2006, and covers a multitouch display that a) detects two contacts; b) which perform a gesture; c) which affects an image; d) and then the contacts disconnect; e) after which a second set of contacts is detected; f) which perform another operation within a set period of time.
In other words, patent #7,812,826 only applies when you pinch to zoom and then pinch to zoom again within a predefined amount of time.
- Xcelerate 14y agoWouldn't it be great to just program things without worrying about patenting what you've done or whether someone else has patented it?
- tlholaday 14y agoWouldn't it be great to just copy successful devices without paying a designer?
- mibbitier 14y ago"pinch to zoom" is obvious. It's practically the only way you could zoom things on a touch screen. It's like patenting the steering wheel. Don't pretend it's innovative or took any time whatsoever to come up with. It's blatantly obvious and should never have been granted.
- ahoyhere 14y agoIf it's obvious, why didn't it exist on any of the touchscreen products which went before the iPhone?
- rayiner 14y agoI understand the appeal of this line of argument, and to an extent I agree with it. I think independent invention is a real problem with patents as applied to software. Yet, Samsung didn't independently invent a phone that diverges from the Android default to look more like the iPhone.