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Claim 19 of the Apple's US 7,469,381 patent - [PATENT QUOTED] | 191 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Claim 19 of the Apple's US 7,469,381 patent - [PATENT QUOTED]
Authored by: macliam on Wednesday, April 03 2013 @ 03:46 PM EDT
19. A device, comprising:
a touch screen display;

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the programs including:
instructions for displaying a first portion of an electronic document;

instructions for detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display;

instructions for translating the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display in a first direction to display a second portion of the electronic document, wherein the second portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting the movement;

instructions for displaying an area beyond an edge of the electronic document and displaying a third portion of the electronic document, wherein the third portion is smaller than the first portion, in response to the edge of the electronic document being reached while translating the electronic document in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display; and

instructions for translating the electronic document in a second direction until the area beyond the edge of the electronic document is no longer displayed to display a fourth portion of the electronic document, wherein the fourth portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting that the object is no longer on or near the touch screen display.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Device potentially infringing Claim 19 - [PATENT QUOTED]
Authored by: macliam on Wednesday, April 03 2013 @ 04:16 PM EDT
19. A device, comprising: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the programs including:
The device is a desktop or laptop computer with a touch screen, and software, including software for displaying maps:
instructions for displaying a first portion of an electronic document;

The electronic document is a map, viewed in a rectangle on screen with a thin black border. The ‘first portion’ of the electronic document is the portion of the map visible.

instructions for detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display;

This display is touch-sensitive.

instructions for translating the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display in a first direction to display a second portion of the electronic document, wherein the second portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting the movement;

The finger may be placed on a city, so that the city can be dragged around, and the map translated to keep the city under the finger, thereby displaying a ‘second portion’ of the document.

instructions for displaying an area beyond an edge of the electronic document and displaying a third portion of the electronic document, wherein the third portion is smaller than the first portion, in response to the edge of the electronic document being reached while translating the electronic document in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display; and

As the finger approaches the bottom of the black border, from outside the border region, the bottom border starts moving upwards to display ‘an area beyond an edge of the electronic document’ on which are placed several icons. When the city under the finger reaches the bottom border, that border is raised so that the portion of the map displayed (i.e., the ‘third portion’) is smaller than the first portion.

The finger is dragged over ‘the edge of the document’ (i.e., the black border round the map) towards a chosen icon, and the software records what part of the map was immediately under the finger when the black border was crossed, thus identifying the geographical location of the city under the finger.

instructions for translating the electronic document in a second direction until the area beyond the edge of the electronic document is no longer displayed to display a fourth portion of the electronic document, wherein the fourth portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting that the object is no longer on or near the touch screen display.

Once the finger is lifted off the chosen icon, the black border moves downwards to its normal position, so that the ‘area beyond the edge of the electronic document’ containing the icons is covered over, and the map translates so that the selected city is in the centre of the map. When this is achieved a ‘fourth portion’ of the electronic document is displayed, different from the ‘first portion’.

The display then pans in or out, to enlarge or reduce the scale of the map, with the chosen city in the centre. The scale factor is determined by the particular icon previously selected.

This invention of mine should have utility in enabling people to view maps on a touch-screen device with a convenient interface, focussing in or out at will, simply by dragging the city or geographical feature of interest down towards an appropriate icon displayed when the bottom edge of the map lifts up.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Another potentially infringing device - [PATENT QUOTED]
Authored by: macliam on Wednesday, April 03 2013 @ 04:43 PM EDT

Another potentially infringing device.

19. A device, comprising: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the programs including:
The device is a desktop or laptop computer with a touch screen, and software, including software for handling social networks:
instructions for displaying a first portion of an electronic document;

The electronic document is a long series of photographs of friends on a social network, with names listed under each photograph. Underneath the displayed portion of the document is a long line (resembling a groove) with a slider.

instructions for detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display;

This display is touch-sensitive.

instructions for translating the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display in a first direction to display a second portion of the electronic document, wherein the second portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting the movement;

The slider can be dragged along the line at the bottom of the screen, and the portion of the displayed series of photographs will move accordingly. It is also possible to select particular friends, to add them to a group, by tapping on the photo with a finger. In this way one can select a group of friends from the display of all friends. The nametags of the friends gain a light blue background as they are selected.

instructions for displaying an area beyond an edge of the electronic document and displaying a third portion of the electronic document, wherein the third portion is smaller than the first portion, in response to the edge of the electronic document being reached while translating the electronic document in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display; and

As the slider approaches the right hand end of the groove, the displayed sequence of photos moves to the left to reveal an area beyond the edge of the document in which is an array of icons, in 'Add' and 'Delete' columns, with rows representing specific groups representing groups.

instructions for translating the electronic document in a second direction until the area beyond the edge of the electronic document is no longer displayed to display a fourth portion of the electronic document, wherein the fourth portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting that the object is no longer on or near the touch screen display.

The relevant icon is tapped, and then, once the finger has lifted from the icon, and is thus ‘no longer on or near the touch screen display’, the electronic document (i.e., the long sequence of photos) is translated to the right to cover over the array of icons, thus displaying the fourth portion of that list of images, distinct from the first portion.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Excessive breadth of patents on responses of touch-screen devices to gestures
Authored by: macliam on Wednesday, April 03 2013 @ 05:31 PM EDT
19. A device, comprising: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the programs including:

The device is a desktop or laptop computer with a touch screen, and software, including software for viewing PDF documents.

instructions for displaying a first portion of an electronic document;

The electronic document is a PDF document, normally displayed full-screen.

instructions for detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display;

This display is touch-sensitive.

instructions for translating the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display in a first direction to display a second portion of the electronic document, wherein the second portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting the movement;

The document can be dragged around by finger movements on the touch display.

instructions for displaying an area beyond an edge of the electronic document and displaying a third portion of the electronic document, wherein the third portion is smaller than the first portion, in response to the edge of the electronic document being reached while translating the electronic document in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display; and

Once the left-hand edge of the document appears, it keeps moving to the right, to expose a side panel with a sequence of icons downwards representing pages.

instructions for translating the electronic document in a second direction until the area beyond the edge of the electronic document is no longer displayed to display a fourth portion of the electronic document, wherein the fourth portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting that the object is no longer on or near the touch screen display.

When a page icon is tapped and released, the page moves leftwards and either downwards or upwards to reposition the view at the chosen page, in full screen mode.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

A Fourth potentially infringing device - [PATENT QUOTED]
Authored by: macliam on Wednesday, April 03 2013 @ 05:44 PM EDT
19. A device, comprising: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the programs including:

The device is a desktop or laptop computer with a touch screen, and software, including software for managing a graphical shell like KDE or GNOME:

instructions for displaying a first portion of an electronic document;

There are four windows onto the desktop. A portion of one of these windows is displayed.

instructions for detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display;

This display is touch-sensitive.

instructions for translating the electronic document displayed on the touch screen display in a first direction to display a second portion of the electronic document, wherein the second portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting the movement;

The windows may not be completely visible, but sliding the finger in a particular direction causes the window to scroll in the opposite direction.

instructions for displaying an area beyond an edge of the electronic document and displaying a third portion of the electronic document, wherein the third portion is smaller than the first portion, in response to the edge of the electronic document being reached while translating the electronic document in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display; and

As the window scrolls to review the right hand edge, the window keeps scrolling to the left to reveal an area beyond the electronic document (i.e., the sequence of desktop windows within which the application programs run), with icons representing the various windows. Keeping the finger down, one can move it onto one of the icons.

instructions for translating the electronic document in a second direction until the area beyond the edge of the electronic document is no longer displayed to display a fourth portion of the electronic document, wherein the fourth portion is different from the first portion, in response to detecting that the object is no longer on or near the touch screen display.

When the finger is lifted off the icon, the window scrolls rightwards to cover the icons, and also up or down, to move to the selected window of the desktop, with its collection of applications.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Comments and Lessons to be learned.
Authored by: macliam on Wednesday, April 03 2013 @ 05:57 PM EDT

The more widespread use of touch screen devices will surely lead (under patent law as currently applied) to an impossible thicket of “touch-screen gesture” patents. Just about every conceivable way in which the display could react sensibly to a gesture, or to a sequence of gestures, will be subject matter for some patent, and many such patents will be troll patents.

Moreover, because the scope of patent claims is determined by the wording of claims, claims that merely recite ‘computer-implemented methods’ and computers provided with programs to respond to gestures will potentially read on numerous different possible scenarios for use of a touch screen device. It will literally not be possible to use such a device without infringing on possibly thousands of such patents.

Where such gesture claims are not tied to any particular application, they surely represent claims to ‘abstract’, since there would be few if any claim limitations tying down such gestures to specific applications.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Does this not cut both ways?
Authored by: Ian Al on Thursday, April 04 2013 @ 01:57 AM EDT
If the words in the claim are too broad, I could see it being easier to match
prior art to the words. Your 'lessons to be learned' points out that a KDE
desktop on a touch-screen computer matches some of the Apple wording.

I used two-finger zoom in a browser using KDE and a Wacom touch tablet and there
have been multi-touch laptop touch-pads that, I think, pre-date the features on
Apple products.

I note that it is the gesture which is the claimed invention and not the touch
screen. In fact, the patent does not show how the multi-touch screen is made and
this demonstrates that it is not the claimed invention.

I would have thought that any gesture used to control a 'machine' that matched
the claimed invention wording would be prior art.

I seem to remember that many overly broad patents have been redeemed by the
addition of narrowing claims or text. The USPTO need to be wary of the
possibility that the narrowing is not just a way of awarding a patent on an
abstract idea narrowed to a particular PHOSITA's art.



---
Regards
Ian Al
Software Patents: It's the disclosed functions in the patent, stupid!

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Note use of 'includes' in claim 19 of '381 patent
Authored by: macliam on Thursday, April 04 2013 @ 05:10 AM EDT

Claim 19 claims a computing device with a touch screen display, together with programs providing instructions to carry out five tasks. Those five tasks do not have to be carried out in sequence. Nor do that have to be used in the same ‘application’. To infringe, the computer simply has to be loaded with a program to carry out task 1, with a program to carry out task 2, etc. Any computer with a touch screen display would surely be programmed with instructions to carry out the first three of these tasks.

To infringe, the computer has to have a program for carrying out the fourth task, which happens when the object moves to the boundary of the display.

And the computer has to have a program for carrying out the fifth task, which happens when the object is no longer on or near the edge.

There is nothing to require tasks to be carried out in sequence. Indeed the first three programs describe what happens all the time as the computer monitors the touch screen and displays information.

Thus a programmed computer could have a first application installed, which includes a program for carrying out the fourth listed task, but not the fifth. And it could also carry a second application, which includes a program for carry out the fifth listed talk, but not the fourth.

A computer on which just one of these applications has been installed may not infringe Claim 19. But a computer on which both applications have been installed would infringe, even though the two applications may be totally independent of one another, and may be designed to carry out totally different tasks.

To emphasize: It is the wording of the claim, not the details of the embodiments disclosed in the specification, that determines whether a device or method is infringing, or is prior art.

(Standard disclaimer: IANAL)

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Excessive breadth of patents on responses of touch-screen devices to gestures
Authored by: PJ on Thursday, April 04 2013 @ 10:42 AM EDT
I have a question for you. Since you are not
a lawyer and yet are expressing very strong
opinions about the law, perhaps it's time for
you to tell us what your credentials are.

Otherwise, your comments could mislead people.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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