Apple just scored a huge victory as a patent for “slide to unlock” has been granted to Apple by the United States Patent and Trademark Office marking a potentially huge blow to Android.  Many Android devices use some sort of sliding gesture to unlock the phone from the lock screen and while Apple only uses a very simple implementation of this gesture, the patent itself is quite long and very vague.  So vague in fact that it could be construed to mean that any method of touching the screen to unlock the phone would be a patent violation.  Here’s the first two sentences of the patent:

A device with a touch-sensitive display may be unlocked via gestures performed on the touch-sensitive display. The device is unlocked if contact with the display corresponds to a predefined gesture for unlocking the device. 

Software patents, like the one above, are pretty much a waste of time and money for both the government and the companies that are either submitting them or dealing with lawsuits because of them.  I have no problem with patenting something unique that you have created but the patents should need to be clear and concise not vague and far reaching.  The software patent system is broken and this is yet another example of just how broken it is.  If Apple wanted to protect the iOS lock screen slider then that is what they should have been forced to specifically patent.  According to the language in the patent, Apple has been allowed to patent the use of a gesture to unlock your phone using the touchscreen in any manner.  That type of vagueness can hamper innovation by giving one company too much control over a certain aspects of all touchscreen devices.  Specifics are good and lead to innovation.  Broad ideas being patented leads to lawsuits and legal battles.

This is just another example of the bullshit tactics that Apple is using to try to destroy Android which has taken the lead in the mobile operating system race of late.  I wouldn’t like Android if it was just stealing ideas from iOS but anyone that has used both operating systems knows that they aren’t all that similar and even the similarities have a different feel to them.  Apple appears to be taking advantage of the U.S. Patent system with the way that these patents are worded.  Smart?  It sure is but it also has a negative impact on the entire technology field.  These battles should be fought on store shelves not in court rooms and Apple is winning a lot recently on its way to becoming the most valuable tech company on earth.

Apple can say they are just protecting their intellectual property but if that is the case then why not write your patents for the specific property you intend to protect?  The patent itself reads more like a random thought than a specific implementation and therein lies the problem.  The system is basically begging Apple, or someone like it, to just step up and submit as many of these as possible to gain control of a certain tech market.  Android may be forced to make changes based on this patent even though the implementation is completely different and even adds functionality in many ways.  That’s innovation

Source: Android and Me