Four years later.. Apple has finally been awarded the patent they’ve been fighting for – A multi-touch screen for use on iPhone and iPad. Sorry all you other smartphone manufacturers out there, this one is exclusively Apple’s now.
Multi-touch would mean that more than one gesture can be recognized by an Apple smartphone or tablet’s touchscreen surface, allowing for advanced functionality. For example, when in a webpage you can use one finger to scroll the entire page, or use two fingers to scroll an embedded page, for example a google maps page within a regular webpage on the iPhone.
Some manufacturers have already implemented this in mobile handset features and the Cupertino Co’s exclusiveness could come as a blow to iOS’s rival operating systems such as Google’s Android (which includes “pinch-to-zoom” function).
However, this doesn’t mean other manufacturers can’t try. And Apple will happily license the tech, obviously at a cost. With patent in place this means that only an exact replica of the design would be considered infringement, so expect rivals to take advantage of this legal glitch, without getting involved in the whole licensing fiasco.
Be warned though, that Apple will probably invite you to court – they seem to spend a lot of their time embroiled in legal battles making sure their tech remains exclusive. It’s surprising they find the time to actually make gadgets..
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