Apple's 'slide to unlock' patent invalidated by German court
As part of an ongoing German patent struggle, Motorola on Thursday won a ruling from the country's Federal Patent Court, which said found all claims of Apple's "slide to unlock" user interface property invalid, though the decision can be appealed.
According to FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, the parties affected by the ruling, Apple, Samsung and Google, all knew the Bundespatentgericht was likely to invalidate European Patent EP1964022 for "unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image."
Source: Espacenet
The ruling came at the end of a day-long court session where Apple attempted to save the patent's validity by presenting 14 proposed claim amendments.
In the end, Apple's patent is somewhat irrelevant as manufacturers have implemented similar design workarounds that accomplish the same basic slide to unlock functionality, which is used on veritably all smartphones. The German court noted that Apple's patent claim for a swiping gesture, the only new enhancement to prior art, doesn't meet certain requirements of European patent law. This so-called inventive step, which is needed to uphold a patent's claims, was deemed "software as such" and not a requisite technical innovation to a technical problem.
Apple's patent has a spotty history with the German court system. The Munich I Regional Court in February of 2012 granted Apple a permanent injunction against Motorola over the improper use of the slide to unlock patent. However, a similar suit leveled against Samsung was tossed by the Mannheim Regional Court just one month later.
It is expected that Apple will appeal Thursday's ruling to the Bundesgerichtshof, or Germany's Federal Court of Justice, though no official documentation of such action has been filed.
According to FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller, the parties affected by the ruling, Apple, Samsung and Google, all knew the Bundespatentgericht was likely to invalidate European Patent EP1964022 for "unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image."
Source: Espacenet
The ruling came at the end of a day-long court session where Apple attempted to save the patent's validity by presenting 14 proposed claim amendments.
In the end, Apple's patent is somewhat irrelevant as manufacturers have implemented similar design workarounds that accomplish the same basic slide to unlock functionality, which is used on veritably all smartphones. The German court noted that Apple's patent claim for a swiping gesture, the only new enhancement to prior art, doesn't meet certain requirements of European patent law. This so-called inventive step, which is needed to uphold a patent's claims, was deemed "software as such" and not a requisite technical innovation to a technical problem.
Apple's patent has a spotty history with the German court system. The Munich I Regional Court in February of 2012 granted Apple a permanent injunction against Motorola over the improper use of the slide to unlock patent. However, a similar suit leveled against Samsung was tossed by the Mannheim Regional Court just one month later.
It is expected that Apple will appeal Thursday's ruling to the Bundesgerichtshof, or Germany's Federal Court of Justice, though no official documentation of such action has been filed.
Comments
After the Australians, the English, the Germans, ... why doesn't Apple just stick to the US.
Apple would lose most of their profits
Please stay fair. I don't like this judge as well but we live in a democratic world, thanks God and not in a world where people just damn each other
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitz1
Damn the Germans.
After the Australians, the English, the Germans, ... why doesn't Apple just stick to the US.
Now, now. Be civil.
Originally Posted by Just_Me
Apple would lose most of their profits
Most?
Originally Posted by MacHarry de
I am from Germany and I don't like to read such rassism "damn the Germans" here.
Wilkommen! That's not racism. You're certainly right about the rest, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Most?
By quite a margin.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1219211-apple-s-revenue-by-region-there-s-more-to-the-company-s-story
Originally Posted by cnocbui
By quite a margin.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1219211-apple-s-revenue-by-region-there-s-more-to-the-company-s-story
Looks like the margin is only 14%. And that's assuming "all" of 'Retail' is outside the US.
But you're right, of course. Thanks for the clarification!
All this means is that this patent was (incorrectly) invalidated in Germany. It's still valid in the US. The problem in Germany is that the regional court flipflopped on their ruling saying Motorola violated the patent while Samsung didn't. This is what concerns me the most. I wish this court system would agree on something. Of course that's asking a lot since judges all over the world can't agree on much of anything.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitz1
After the Australians, the English, the Germans, ... why doesn't Apple just stick to the US.
Various Apple patents and trademarks have been invalidated in the US as well.
If Apple did as you and some others have suggested, they'd run out of places to sell their products.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Looks like the margin is only 14%. And that's assuming "all" of 'Retail' is outside the US.
But you're right, of course. Thanks for the clarification!
Equally assuming 'Americas' is just the US - which I doubt somewhat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitz1
Damn the Germans.
After the Australians, the English, the Germans, ... why doesn't Apple just stick to the US.
Facepalm!
I thought it was an untrue stereotype that there were some Americans that believed that anything outside of America is unimportant.
I'm glad that you aren't running a company and especially glad that the people at Apple aren't as self important and blinkered as you are.