Comments on: Apple’s iPhone. Is it really well protected by patents?

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:15:00 +0000

They didn't “patent” it, they applied for a patent on it. Big difference.

By: Graham

Graham — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:55:50 +0000

The Newton was made when Steve Jobs wasn’t at Apple; but it IS what made the iPhone so good. The fact that the Newton had failed with its size, weight, interface that required a stylus made Apple think differently about how they should approach mobile computing and devices. The Newton’s interface was pretty good for ‘93. Apple tends to over-patent their devices because competitors like to run out and copy it quickly. This just slows then down. Also, the comment about Xerox is crap – I hate when people bring that up because you cannot equate taking one idea with 30 years of innovation in interfaces – it would have happened with Xerox or not.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:43:44 +0000

I know of one patent that Apple has not filed for and its already been patented by someone I know personally. iPhone has been doing these commercials about how they can see their messages and choose which ones they want to open. Well, its been patented and Apple is infringing.

By: iphoner404

iphoner404 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:14:32 +0000

Here’s Apple’s visual voice mail patent “User interface for voice message access” patent number 6,097,941. Looks like they filed several other in 1997 also.

By: Much Ado About the iFawn

Much Ado About the iFawn — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:06:42 +0000

[...] enough about it. Its crowning piece is undoubtedly, the software driven user interface. Apple has invested well over 200 patents to protect its [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:30:29 +0000

Apple’s genius isn’t really technical. This stuff isn’t rocket science–it’s quite straightforward actually. Don’t get me wrong–I think Apple has done a good job of technology integration in a nice form factor. But Apple’s real genius is in the leadership’s will to push something new and interesting through from technology idea to actual product. Vision of this sort is absolutely key to the success that Apple has had with some of their ideas (like the iPod) and also why they have failed so spectacularly at times (remember the Newton?)

By: Mustang

Mustang — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 21:20:58 +0000

I saw Jeff Han doing most of those finger moves and using most of this tecnology in a presentation of multi-touch interfaces back in 2005.

Did apple bought the patent rights from them?

By: Juan Pueblo

Juan Pueblo — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 23:41:36 +0000

Just like the rest of the Apple “innovations” the iPhone is simply a copy of what was done by Xerox Parc like 20 years ago.

By: Alex McKenna

Alex McKenna — Fri, 25 May 2007 21:53:22 +0000

These principles could be employed as a new type of desktop keyboard, which could eliminate the mouse.
You could type and make screen gestures on the same multi-touch surface, on your desk-pad, replacing the keyboard, whilst observing the results on the usual screen. A similar pad on a laptop could also eliminate the ghastly “scratch pad” which always sets my teeth on edge.

By: True Apple Media Center in the Works - Unwired View

True Apple Media Center in the Works - Unwired View — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:19:10 +0000

[...] these Media Center capabilities described in current patent may look pretty far off. But so was an iPhone when it was described in a patent application a year [...]

By: Unwired View / Asus Aura -iPhone like concept

Unwired View / Asus Aura -iPhone like concept — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:37:28 +0000

[...] While not widely acknowledged, introduction of Apple iPhone seems to have sent a shockwave throughout cellphone industry and left major vendors scrambling to produce their own answer to it. [...]

By: Unwired View / Replace the PC with your cellphone with Sony Ericsson Multimedia Cradle

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:35:25 +0000

[...] Mobile phones are pretty small devices in their nature. And no matter how you try, it will never be as convenient to use as a normal PC or other full sized multimedia devices. The iPhone is the proof. Even though it has a revolutionary interface and is years ahead of the competition, quite a few usability complaints were voiced about it. [...]