Well this will make most of us very happy. It appears that Apple’s little “pinch to zoom” patent that was used in their case against Samsung in August where Apple won a $1 billion verdict over Samsung, has been rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This is great news for Android fans, but it doesn’t mean the Patent war between these two are over.
The ruling by the USPTO is not final, and Apple will most likely appeal the decision. But all of a sudden, big bad Apple doesn’t look so big and bad anymore. Instead the fruit company is looking a bit ridiculous as they now have egg on their face over this patent. Which I still think should never have been granted in the first place. So why was the patent rejected? Well the USPTO had found prior art of the pinch to zoom patent. Which means Apple did not invent it. Not that should surprise us, we know how innovative Apple has been in the past 4 years. In fact the USPTO found that the Cupertino company copied it from others and then went and patented it. And of course we know they used this bogus patent to sue its competition. Real classy Apple.
This is the second ruling from the USPTO in two weeks where Apple patents had been rejected. The other was one related to multitouch and was also known as the “Steve Jobs” patent. Like we’ve said before, and our readers have also said this in comments on both the site and Google+, a lot of Apple’s patents were nothing they invented. But something they borrowed, copied, used from another company and then patented it. Doesn’t the notification center that was introduced in iOS 5 last year seem a bit familiar? Surprised they hadn’t tried to patent that yet. Seeing as they copied it from Android.
So does this mean the Samsung v Apple lawsuit needs a redo? Well right now there’s a lot of controversy around that case. Including the head jury being sued by Samsung before, and some other things that Samsung is using in its appeal for the decision made back in late-August. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Who’s happy that yet another Apple patent bites the dust? I know I am. Let us know in the comments below.