Apple patents disappearing vertical scroll indicator

[remixedcat]

instead of giving them the parent I would have given them a smack on the head with the purple dildo from GTA:SA

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Intellectual Properly: Apple patents disappearing vertical scroll indicator

Intellectual Properly is a series where we seek to set the record straight on the day's hottest patent, copyright and related intellectual property issues in the tech world.

It's Tuesday, so you know what that means: newly minted patents are here. Today's fun comes straight from Cupertino via the US Patent and Trademark Office and includes another scrolling patent ? US patent no. 8,223,134 to be exact. The '134 patent claims priority back to 2007 and includes pretty broad coverage on a disappearing vertical scroll bar on portable touch screen devices. Here's a summary of the key portions of the first and broadest claim in the patent:

• a portable device with a touch screen display;
  
• displaying a portion of a larger document on the display;
  
• displaying a vertical bar, not a conventional full-length vertical scroll bar, at the screen's edge;
  
• detecting a movement on the display, and scrolling the document accordingly;
  
• moving the vertical bar; and
  
• ceasing to display the vertical bar ? e.g., after a short period of time.
  

If you think that claim has the potential to cover most Android devices out there, you may be right. The disappearing vertical bar has been a feature in Android going back to at least version 2.3. Below are side-by-side comparison shots highlighting such a vertical bar in use in iOS (left) and Android (right) ? just prior to its disappearance:

We don't have any idea how Apple will use this patent, if at all, but we do know it's been rather fond of asserting other patents in its portfolio relating to touch and scrolling features. On the other hand, there's always one easy workaround available to all: the traditional full screen vertical scroll bar that's existed since the dawn of graphical user interfaces. Only time will tell, but we'll certainly keep an eye out to see if this patent shows up in one of the many ongoing patent battles between Apple and Android OEMs.

Source: The Verge

[ahhell]

I think Apple needs to **** right off with all the patent crap.

[margrave]

Next ... they'll patent Apple Air... they've invented a way for you to breath!

[didymo]

Apple's patents are starting to become a joke, they're way too generic!

[Neu B]

Apple will kill itself with all these dumba** patents.

[DeadEndAccount]

Apple will kill itself with all these dumba** patents.

Agreed - eventually they're going to step on one too many toes and **** off a few key third party vendors. The problem right now is that there really isn't an alternative to iOS/iPhone with the high number of people buying stuff from the AppStore but I'd say once Windows Phone 8 is released things will start changing (Android has high number but a crapy number who actually purchase things through the Android application store thus many third party software vendors wonder whether it is worth the effort). Apple spending its time going after Android will be a wasted effort because I could see Windows Phone 8 doing to Apple what Windows did to Apple back in the 90's when Apple rested on its laurels (yes, they had AU/X - a UNIX operating system with a Mac GUI but they killed it off in favour of what is known today as 'classic') where the desktop developer base will be leveraged to produce applications for Windows Phone 8.

Back to patents - I really have to ask at what point is there going to be a tipping point where software patents will be thrown out entirely because from what I see from Apple's patents these are ideas that don't even pass the sniff test on casual glance as the description. They're patents for existing technologies or the bloody obvious - it is becoming ridiculous these days.

[lnmnky]

IE10 does this. I wonder if MS will be asked to change it on "mobile" devices.

[firey]

IE10 does this. I wonder if MS will be asked to change it on "mobile" devices.

Ubuntu does this too with unity.

[.Neo]

I think Apple needs to **** right off with all the patent crap.

Microsoft was granted a patent for double-click. Why not complain about that too?

[grayscale]

It's not just Apple. It's the fact that ambiguous patents are passed and allowed XD

[.Neo]

IE10 does this. I wonder if MS will be asked to change it on "mobile" devices.

Apple, Microsoft and some other companies are in a pact together and don't sue each other for patents.

[Rudy]

To be honest they kinda have to patent it, otherwise some other company will come around and patent it themselves. I just wish we lived in a world free of software patents

[Intersect]

perhaps neowin should come up with some generic pattent that apple would have to pay to use.

[neufuse Veteran]

IE10 does this. I wonder if MS will be asked to change it on "mobile" devices.

MS and Apple have a pattent shareing agreement

[killer2239]

To be honest they kinda have to patent it, otherwise some other company will come around and patent it themselves. I just wish we lived in a world free of software patents

Can you patent something that others have already been using and can easily prove they have had it before X company files the patent?

As for all these design and interface patents are really ****ing me off and make me hate Apple more and more each day. I like some of their products, but I hate them as a company. Steve Jobs himself basically said he saw Xerox GUI interface and wanted to make his own and better. So he did. Now Android did something similar, and expanding and making it better, then Steve gets so offended that its a stolen product and is out to destroy them. It's only ok if he does it. But Apple has to try and protect themselves and keep as much money rolling in going forward since their Visionary is gone and in a few years we will see if they can continue to grow.

[Eddo89]

Can you patent something that others have already been using and can easily prove they have had it before X company files the patent?

Technically no. But they could buy company X and then apply for a patent.

[M_Lyons10]

Apple's patents are starting to become a joke, they're way too generic!

Agreed. Not like anyone has ever had a disappearing scrollbar before...

[BoredBozirini]

Microsoft was granted a patent for double-click. Why not complain about that too?

People seem to avoid your post intentionally.

Everyone arguing about this patent, boo-****ing-hoo.

[Southern Patriot]

Microsoft was granted a patent for double-click. Why not complain about that too?

Because it's "cool" to bash Apple for doing the same things that other companies do.

[HawkMan]

Apple, Microsoft and some other companies are in a pact together and don't sue each other for patents.

It's called a cross licening deal, and far less nefarius than a pact.

[DeadEndAccount]

Because it's "cool" to bash Apple for doing the same things that other companies do.

In all due respects - Apple started off as the underdog that people cheerlead for and even when they were growing rapidly people still liked and admired them. Want to know where everything came unstuck? it can be traced back to the 'Think Secret' and everything went down hill from there. Add to that the lack of communication, unwillingness to own up to mistakes, unwillingness to address design defects in a way that actually FIXES them rather than prolongs the problem (replacing defective motherboards with new motherboards but containing the same GPU with the same design fault ala nVidia 8400M/8600M fiasco). As I said, the hate didn't happen over night but was something that was built up over several years to what you see today.

[rkenshin]

You got to wonder if the patent office just approves forms as they receive them, without even reviewing them to their fullest extent.

The patent system is broken, and big companies take advantage of it (not just Apple, but I think they are one of the worst), effectively killing off any means of competition - even from the small business owner.

[.Neo]

It's called a cross licening deal, and far less nefarius than a pact.

Couldn't come up with the term at the time. In the end however Apple, Microsoft, RIM, etc. did it to have a lot more leverage against the Android camp and focus on them instead of also on each other. In that sense it's very much a pact.

[Matthew_Thepc]

Couldn't come up with the term at the time. In the end however Apple, Microsoft, RIM, etc. did it to have a lot more leverage against the Android camp and focus on them instead of also on each other. In that sense it's very much a pact.

err, if I remember correctly Google said no to joining them (assuming we're both talking about the same thing).

https://twitter.com/fxshaw/status/98932077327691776/photo/1/large

http://www.tech.sc/google-apple-microsoft-novell-patents-lawsuit-android/

seems to me like Google just didn't wanna share.