UK High Court rules three Apple patents invalid, vindicates HTC

[techbeck]

The UK High Court of Justice's Chancery Division has today ruled that HTC smartphones are not in violation of any of the EU patents Apple brought to the court. In addition, Judge Christopher Floyd, who presided over the case, declared three of the four Apple patents invalid. The patents in question are applicable solely within the European Union, and are focused on slide-to-unlock, multitouch, and the handling of foreign language text input.

Apple and HTC are fighting multiple legal battles across Europe and the US, but the High Court's decision does not directly affect any cases outside of the UK as other courts don't have to follow the UK's lead. The two companies are fighting over the same group of patents in Germany, and HTC may attempt to use the High Court's ruling to influence decisions elsewhere.

Slide-to-unlock patent declared invalid

The slide-to-unlock patent, #2964022, was declared invalid in the UK due to its similarity to the unlocking paradigm found on the Neonode N1, a Swedish touchscreen phone launched well before the iPhone. For the multitouch patent, #2098948, Judge Floyd deemed multitouch to be a computer program and so not patentable as an invention under UK law. Finally, patent #1168859, which relates to the way a phone handles switching between foreign-language characters, was found too close to systems found elsewhere, and was not "novel." The Judge also noted that Apple's implementation was an "obvious" extension of prior work. Floyd did rule that a photo management patent, #2059868, was valid, but found that HTC's products did not infringe on it.

Just a small part of a far larger picture

While today's ruling is a definite victory for HTC in the UK, it's just a small part of a far larger picture. Apple, Samsung, HTC, and all of the companies involved in the current round of patent disputes will take their fights around the world looking for favorable courts. In May, Apple's litigation resulted in the HTC One X and S being held at US customs for two weeks, and just yesterday the ITC denied Apple's request for an emergency ban on some HTC devices in the US. At least UK citizens don't have to fear a similar ban any time soon.

http://www.theverge....patents-invalid

Wish the US courts were as good as resolving these patent issues....

[FloatingFatMan]

Other countries should take note of the UK's refusal to allow patents on software; such a thing is completely ridiculous and does nothing except stifle progress.

[TheElite]

Reminds me of my IP work in Law school. Damn that was tough. Good money for someone who wants to get in on the action though.

[FloatingFatMan]

Reminds me of my IP work in Law school. Damn that was tough. Good money for someone who wants to get in on the action though.

Which is probably a good part of why there are so many lawsuits. Lawyers on retainer drumming up profitable, but stupid, business.

[thealexweb]

Other countries should take note of the UK's refusal to allow patents on software; such a thing is completely ridiculous and does nothing except stifle progress.

Yet London's tech city is booming right now...

[FloatingFatMan]

Yet London's tech city is booming right now...

Go figure.

[Hum]

OMG -- Apple will go out of business. :laugh:

[Boz]

Freakin' finally.. this should move the ball in US as well in invalidating all these vague and broad Apple patents.

[FloatingFatMan]

Freakin' finally.. this should move the ball in US as well in invalidating all these vague and broad Apple patents.

Perhaps. Problem is, patents on software are (unfathomably) legal in the US.

[123456789A]

Apple is making a lot of lawyers rich.

[BoredBozirini]

Freakin' finally.. this should move the ball in US as well in invalidating all these vague and broad Apple patents.

Different law system.

Other countries should take note of the UK's refusal to allow patents on software; such a thing is completely ridiculous and does nothing except stifle progress.

If anything, patents force progress.

[Noir Angel]

Are you out of your damn mind? Patents don't force progress, they hinder it.

[Anibal P]

Different law system.

If anything, patents force progress.

Not when you get a patent on a concept and pull an Apple and won't allow anyone to use it, and your patent is so broad no one can work around it

[BoredBozirini]

Not when you get a patent on a concept and pull an Apple and won't allow anyone to use it, and your patent is so broad no one can work around it

Then do something completely different?

[neo158]

Then do something completely different?

Name a different way to unlock a phone with a touchscreen?

[theyarecomingforyou]

Are you out of your damn mind? Patents don't force progress, they hinder it.

In theory patents - like copyrights - are designed to protect the investments made by businesses into new products and technologies, thereby aiding progress. In reality the exact opposite happens. For example, sliding-bolts are a mechanical invention that have been around for centuries - all Apple did was implement it on touch screens. There was no invention or innovation involved - they were merely the first company to implement it - and as such it should not be protected, especially when the goal is to simply prevent other companies from using it. Patent trolls are the extreme end, with such companies doing everything within their power to stifle innovation.

Patents should be limited to new concepts and there should be a mandatory mechanism to allow competitors to licence such technology at a price that reflects its market value. All the current system does is put huge amounts of money in the hands of lawyers, limit innovation and stifle smaller businesses. If you think Apple, HTC and Samsung have it tough dealing with nonsense claims with their armies of lawyers then just picture the situation for small businesses which don't have lawyers on the payroll.

Dramatic reform is needed.

[FloatingFatMan]

^ Indeed. Which is why it really puzzles me that the big corps don't have more UK based development going on. We don't HAVE software patents, so no restrictions on what you write...

No one here is going to bat an eye if you write a range check function! :p

[dr_crabman]

If anything, patents force progress.

More and more people disagree. It's not even possible anymore to be sure that you don't infringe on someones patents. Please read this: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/03/opinion-the-problem-with-software-patents-they-dont-scale/

[ichi]

^ Indeed. Which is why it really puzzles me that the big corps don't have more UK based development going on. We don't HAVE software patents, so no restrictions on what you write...

No one here is going to bat an eye if you write a range check function! :p

The problem is big corps will still be selling their producs in the US, so restrictions apply anyway :/ I can only think of two ways out of this, and both seem unfeasible:

- A patent reform.

- Ditching the US market.

[BoredBozirini]

Name a different way to unlock a phone with a touchscreen?

Gestures, a hardware button, sound.

Any other questions?

[dr_crabman]

Gestures, a hardware button, sound.

Any other questions?

Yes. What if someone has already patented those too? Which is the case. It's not like there are infinite possibilities for everything so the "do it different"-answer is a bit shortsighted, sooner or later you run out of options. And if the established ones that are known to work best can't be used because of a patent-troll the customer suffers.

[jakem1]

Gestures, a hardware button, sound.

Any other questions?

Slide to unlock is a gesture ;) To be honest, you're defending the indefensible, especially when you use slide to unlock to support your case.

[ichi]

Gestures, a hardware button, sound.

Any other questions?

"Slide to unlock" is a gesture, and the other two options aren't using the touchscreen, which was the question.

You could use different gestures (eg. Android's pattern) but considering that there's obvious prior art on the "slide to unlock" thing I don't see why othen OEMs shouldn't use it aswell. It's far more convenient for users if you can get some GUI functions similar across platforms instead of having to relearn how to do the most basic things.

[techbeck]

Name a different way to unlock a phone with a touchscreen?

Android already changed the slide to unlock. It is not even the same. iOS, you slide one direction. Android, you can slide left, right, up, down....and even launch apps. But thats not good enough for Apple.

[techbeck]

In theory patents - like copyrights - are designed to protect the investments made by businesses into new products and technologies, thereby aiding progress. In reality the exact opposite happens. For example, sliding-bolts are a mechanical invention that have been around for centuries - all Apple did was implement it on touch screens. There was no invention or innovation involved - they were merely the first company to implement it - and as such it should not be protected, especially when the goal is to simply prevent other companies from using it. Patent trolls are the extreme end, with such companies doing everything within their power to stifle innovation.

To bad Apple wasnt the first to implement it on touch screens. But of course, since they got the patent, they can sue anyone who tries to use it tho