Apple Awarded Broad Patent for iPhone, Could Mean Trouble for Rivals

Apple has been awarded an incredible broad patent on its iPhone which could spell trouble for rival smartphone makers, according to a PCMag report.

The site discovered that three and a half years after its application, Apple has been awarded U.S. patent number 7,966,578 for "[a] computer-implemented method, for use in conjunction with a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display, [that] comprises displaying a portion of page content, including a frame displaying a portion of frame content and also including other content of the page, on the touch screen display."

A source who asked not to be named told PCMag that Apple's patent essentially gives it ownership of the capacitive multitouch interface the company pioneered with its iPhone. Similar interfaces have been used by companies like HTC, Samsung, Motorola, RIM, and Nokia. The source also said that the patent seems broad enough to cover any mobile device that uses finger movements to operate a touchscreen. This means that other media players or even tablets could infringe on the patent.


FOSSPatents told PCMag that, "This patent covers a kind of functionality without which it will be hard to build a competitive smartphone. Unless this patent becomes invalidated, it would allow Apple to stifle innovation and bully competitors."

Specifically the functionality patented is the ability to manipulate framed content within a webpage using two fingers without affecting the entire web page at the same time. ie. zooming in and out of a map without moving the surrounding webpage.

Read More [via Roy]