AppleInsider Staff
Key aspects of Apple's so-called "rubber banding" patent related to scrolling in iOS have been validated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, marking a major victory for the company in its ongoing patent dispute against Samsung.
Apple informed U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh on Thursday that the USPTO will issue a reexamination certificate confirming four key claims of the patent in question, according to intellectual property expert Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents. The certificate will validate significant portions of U.S. Patent No. 7,469,381.
Among the portions confirmed by the USPTO is "claim 19," which Apple successfully leveraged against a number of Samsung products in the two companies' high-profile California trial last year. In that case, the jury sided with Apple and found that Samsung had infringed on its patented inventions.
"As a result of this new reexamination certificate, claim 19 will enjoy an enhanced presumption of validity against the invalidity theories the patent office evaluated," Mueller wrote. "Instead of invalidation in mid-2017 or later, this patent has now been confirmed in mid-2013."
The USPTO had previously tentatively rejected all claims in the patent, including claim 19, but Apple cautioned the court to wait for the process to unfold. The latest USPTO decision was portrayed by Mueller as a "huge win" for Apple, potentially giving the iPhone maker "the upper hand with other key patents it's asserting against Samsung" in both California and at the International Trade Commission.
Apple's so-called "rubber-banding" or scroll bounce-back patent deals with the iOS user interface feature that lets users know when they have reached the bottom of a scrollable page. It has been a key user interface element of Apple's mobile operating system since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007.
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122 Comments
I remember discussing how messed up these sorts of patents (at the time, mostly software patents in general) were back in the day on Slashdot (when it was a real site, as opposed to ... :( ). If they are going to enforce these things, which they obviously are, then good for Apple. From my limited understanding of the case, it seems like they should have won. But the world would be a much easier place if you couldn't patent stuff like this.
I don't understand how this can be patentable. It's a virtual imitation of physics that humans discovered, not invented.
[quote name="AaronJ" url="/t/158031/apple-earns-huge-win-against-samsung-on-rubber-banding-patent#post_2345572"]If they are going to enforce these things, which they obviously are, then good for Apple. From my limited understanding of the case, it seems like they should have won. But the world would be a much easier place if you couldn't patent stuff like this.[/quote] As far as patents go, this seems pretty innocuous. Apple did this in a particular way, and there are many good alternatives: no one else [B]needs[/B] to do it in exactly the same way. If they do, they're just copying Apple's painting and signing their own name.
[quote name="wakefinance" url="/t/158031/apple-earns-huge-win-against-samsung-on-rubber-banding-patent#post_2345578"]I don't understand how this can be patentable. It's a virtual imitation of physics that humans discovered, not invented.[/quote] You should have just written "What is a patent?" for your post. You'd be saying the same thing.
I'm a happy camper knowing Samsung is getting each finger cut off Yakuza style...
Fandroids take notice. STEALING others' ideas and justifying it makes you just as sad. I'm hoping for a sledgehammer to Samsung's skull next.