Samsung gets a boost with USPTO's 'final' rejection of Apple's pinch-to-zoom patent

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a "final" rejection of Apple's pinch-to-zoom patent, opening the door for chief rival Samsung to push back even more against its loss in last summer's $1.05 billion patent infringement verdict.



Early Sunday morning, Samsung filed notice with U.S. courts of the USPTO's decision to reject all of the claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,844,915, according to FOSS Patents. The ruling rejects claims 1 through 21 of Apple's filing, but holds that they are all subject to reexamination.

The final office action found that Apple's claims in the patent were both anticipated by prior art references and obvious according to the combination of another two other prior art references.

The USPTO had issued a tentative invalidation of Apple's patent back in December, calling into question just how much of Apple's $1.05 billion victory over Samsung could remain intact. The pinch-to-zoom patent, according to Apple's own damages claims, was the most valuable software patent at issue in that case. Foss' Florian Mueller notes that the patents Apple has put forward in its second patent action against Samsung are "on average, considerably more valuable than the ones asserted in the first case."

The pinch-to-zoom patent isn't the only one of Apple's filings to see eventual rejection from the USPTO. In October, the agency invalidated the rubber-banding patent, stating that a number of its claims were anticipated or obvious due to prior art.

The finality of the USPTO's "final" action on the patent is open to interpretation. Apple now has two months to argue the validity of its patent before the invalidation goes into effect. Even following that, there is an appeals process that could see the legal and regulatory action over pinch-to-zoom stretching into mid-2017 or beyond, according to some observers.

In October of last year, a Dutch court found that Samsung had not infringed Apple's pinch-to-zoom patent. Apple has also unsuccessfully asserted that patent in Britain against HTC, as well as in Germany against Samsung and Motorola.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 66
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    Now they need a punch-to-zoom in on what they've done. Or a mirror, and try to not be disgusted by yourself for stealing someone else's innovation.
  • Reply 2 of 66
    USPTO is full of bullshit and a fucking stupid!!! Fcuk Samsung!
  • Reply 3 of 66
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member


    Obviously Apple should have never gotten a pinch-to-zoom patent considering pinch-to-zoom had been demonstrated for years before the iPhone. Rubber banding is a different matter.

  • Reply 4 of 66
    phone-ui-guyphone-ui-guy Posts: 1,019member
    The whole idea that some government asshat gets to sit around and say the methods were obvious back then after using an iPhone for 5 years is crap. If they were so damn obvious, others would have used them or at least attempted to patent them.
  • Reply 5 of 66
    ceek74ceek74 Posts: 324member
    United States Patent Trolling Office is more like it as it seems that's what it's really designed for these days. Prior art? Well there goes my future patents for a time machine, light saber and Mr. Fusion.

    I guess what's fair is fair though. P2Z was such a well-known idea at the time that it only took Apple to use it first. Shame on all of the "real" innovators back then.
  • Reply 6 of 66
    analogjackanalogjack Posts: 1,073member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TexDeafy View Post



    USPTO is full of bullshit and a fucking stupid!!! Fcuk Samsung!


     


    Hmmm, that is a valid point and one that I presume has not been fully considered. Perhaps you should get in touch with Apple's legal team.


  • Reply 7 of 66


    As a foreigner living in the US, it always amuses me when I see American patriots sticking up for Apple. I can think of a lot of other American tech companies like Microsoft and IBM who are more deserving of praise than Apple.


     


    Be honest, how much in R&D did it really take to make pinch-and-zoom? That sounds like a homework project a typical 1st year computer science student would have.

  • Reply 8 of 66

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TexDeafy View Post



    USPTO is full of bullshit and a fucking stupid!!! Fcuk Samsung!


    Samsung contributes quite a lot to the Texan economy. They provide quite a lot of high-paying jobs to Americans in their fabs. Unfortunately, Apple has yet to contribute much to the American economy other than giving ignorant Conservatives pride.

  • Reply 9 of 66

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ceek74 View Post



    United States Patent Trolling Office is more like it as it seems that's what it's really designed for these days. Prior art? Well there goes my future patents for a time machine, light saber and Mr. Fusion.



    I guess what's fair is fair though. P2Z was such a well-known idea at the time that it only took Apple to use it first. Shame on all of the "real" innovators back then.


    How about you tell us the specific engineering method you use to make a time machine or a lethal light saber?


     


    Apple patents generic designs that anyone with an IQ over 50 could think of. Samsung's patents are far more complex and require a bit more education and intelligence to understand. That's the difference and that's the reason why Samsung has legitimate patents that are upheld and while Apple has bullshit patents that are rightfully getting invalidated.

  • Reply 10 of 66


    This is often is the case, the best solutions are often obvious, once exposed, usually the simplest and often overlooked. Simplicity and elegance itself. Just think about velcro and post it notes.

  • Reply 11 of 66
    plagenplagen Posts: 151member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Sonysexual View Post


    How about you tell us the specific engineering method you use to make a time machine or a lethal light saber?


     


    Apple patents generic designs that anyone with an IQ over 50 could think of. Samsung's patents are far more complex and require a bit more education and intelligence to understand. That's the difference and that's the reason why Samsung has legitimate patents that are upheld and while Apple has bullshit patents that are rightfully getting invalidated.



    Truly a stament that only a person with an IQ under 20 could've made.

  • Reply 12 of 66

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Plagen View Post


    Truly a stament that only a person with an IQ under 20 could've made.



     


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Plagen View Post


    Truly a stament that only a person with an IQ under 20 could've made.



    Apple has pretty bad engineers. Well, if you hire Americans to do complicated things, you get something like Maps which kills people daily. image

  • Reply 13 of 66
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    @Sonotsexual: suffering from Xenophobia¿
  • Reply 14 of 66
    plagenplagen Posts: 151member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Sonysexual View Post


     


     


    Apple has pretty bad engineers. Well, if you hire Americans to do complicated things, you get something like Maps which kills people daily. image



    It looks like estimating your IQ at 20 was a mistake and an insult to people with an IQ of 20. I give you an IQ of 5 but it's the last warning!

  • Reply 15 of 66

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post



    @Sonotsexual: suffering from Xenophobia¿


    I'm currently staying in the US right now.


    There's a reason Apple likes hiring Asians instead of Americans. I just find it funny how so many Conservatives support Apple because Apple is an "American company".  image


    Hell, I'd even bet my ass that Samsung contributes more to the US economy than Apple.

  • Reply 16 of 66

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Plagen View Post


    It looks like estimating your IQ at 20 was a mistake and an insult to people with an IQ of 20. I give you an IQ of 5 but it's the last warning!



    Apple couldn't even make their own OS kernel without being a gigantic, unstable clusterfuck (OS 9 ring a bell?).


    What they have now is a bastardized version of open-source BSD that still has performance and stability issues compared to the superior Windows OS. I'd be happy to show you some code that I've written and show just how terribly Macs run it.

  • Reply 17 of 66
    If this is the upshot of any company filing a patent which is granted (I presume by the USPO) only to have it overruled by the same body when it comes to a dispute, then the only thing that does not work properly is the USPO. This must now be evident to everyone no matter what tech you use as all tech companies have had previously passed patterns overturned or watered down. This is now beyond a joke and the US and the tech industry need to grasp the situation before they end up giving all the money they have to solicitors to defend a pattent that should not have been passed in the first place. For industry standard patternts the pattent approval should involve the setting of a fair price per unit before it is granted to avoid the grey areas. IMHO anything invinc voice or data transfer over a mobile network should be classes as an industry standard or what's the point in deploying them, unless you are the pattent holder.
  • Reply 18 of 66
    plagenplagen Posts: 151member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Sonysexual View Post


    I'd be happy to show you some code that I've written and show just how terribly Macs run it.


     


    I think you have pinpointed the problem, congratulations!


     


    Where did all the smart trolls go? It's nauseating to deal with the idiotic leftovers.

  • Reply 19 of 66

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Plagen View Post


     


    I think you have pinpointed the problem, congratulations!


     


    Where did all the smart trolls go? It's nauseating to deal with the idiotic leftovers.



    You Americans are so laughable. image


    Yeah, it's totally because of me that the program doesn't work properly on a mac. Let's disregard the fact that it runs flawlessly on a windows PC and the fact that many multiplatform applications like Steam and desmume all work better on windows too.


    Nope, it can't be because Apple sucks at engineering. It's because of us. image

  • Reply 20 of 66
    mfpricemfprice Posts: 1member
    In 1992 the movie Starfire showed pinch to zoom and in 1997 the Tandy T3 had working pinch to zoom. Two handed had been done since 1963 by MIT's SketchPad (Apple is just a copier 45 years later, much less a truly valid patent holder of this invention).

    Verification of Prior Art:
    - SketchPad (1963): www.youtube.com/watch?v=USyoT_Ha_bA
    - Starfire (1992): www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhe1DFY-SsQ
    - T3 Tablet (1997): earlier 1994 concept demo at www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUwYCbhFj1U
    - History: www.touchscreencomputers.co.uk/history.html
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