Apple Patents Touchscreen Unlock Gesture – Patent 7657549
Apple has been granted a patent on unlocking a smartphone or tablet using a touchscreen gesture. The application, which was filed in June 2009, covers a range of commonly used techniques including swiping and pattern entry. This could cause some issues as such systems are built into Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating systems! This patent willlikely to become another weapon in Apple’s arsenal as the company continues to sue rival manufacturers.
Apple’s patent – US patent number 7657549 – states: “A device with a touch-sensitive display may be unlocked via gestures performed on the touch-sensitive display. “The device is unlocked if contact with the display corresponds to a predefined gesture for unlocking the device.” The text of the patent is broad and would appear to cover a number of the technologies used by Google and Microsoft in their handheld devices.
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