More fun for laywers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15461732

Just my personal opinion but i think the Android 'draw a shape to unlock' gesture is different enough to the iOS one for this not to be an issue. I don't know how WinMo 7 does it though..

Jon

who does?

Windows Phone 7 is ok, it uses a vertical wipe and doesn't use any icons - Apple patented a horizontal wipe with icons.

Samsung should be ok, they use a horizontal wipe with no icons.

htc should be ok, they use a vertical wipe, although you can drag one of 4 icons down to a ring to start that application automatically as the screen is unlocked.

Windows Mobile had no lock whatsoever. It used to pick up a call as soon as it rang, if the phone was in my pocket.

Undoubtedly it's a stupid patent but the fact there is prior art is a problem for the Patents Office, not Apple. It's patently (sorry) obvious that the current patent system in the US is the worst kind of land grab/gold rush situation. Companies are frantically patenting everything they can think of

a) because they can
b) Because the patent office let them (and don't do proper checking of things like prior art)
c) Because somewhere down the line they're either going to sue someone else or someone is going to sue them.

If at some point the US Patents Office had got a grip on things and rejected a few of these eejit patents with a response something along the lines of 'stop taking the piss' we'd be in a much better situation. As we would if at some point the judges had thrown out half of the patent law suits they've got running around on the grounds they are spurious and/or anti-competitive. But they didn't. They all let it go because they (i.e. the patent office and the lawyers) were making money out of it and now it's a free for all that any sane human being will look at and walk away shaking their head.

Jon