Earlier this week Apple won what is being hailed by Phandroid’s Kevin Krause as the “mother of all smartphone software patents.” Given the company’s recent track record in the courtroom, Apple may be preparing to unleash legal hell upon Google’s Android and Krause reckons “….the effects could be swift and lethal.”
Apple gets patent that could affect entire smartphone industry
Patent number 8,223,134, which relates to “Portable electronic device, method, and graphical user interface for displaying electronic lists and documents,” could be Apple’s A-Bomb. It covers user interfaces for smartphone telephone, email, camera, browser, widgets, video player, maps, notes, search and also a multitouch interface. This list features in every competing smartphone’s operating system.
According to PatentlyApple: “Apple reinvented the smartphone, and today they get another patent victory to celebrate that fact… Apple’s iPhone truly reinvented the smartphone and Apple’s granted patent reflects the broad range of graphical user interface innovations that they brought to market.”
Apple has assumed a Gladiator-like stance in its drive against any competitor it thinks has stolen from it….it will have its vengeance…..in this financial year or the next. The company has been tied up in several lawsuits all over the world, the most recent one with Samsung over the Galaxy Nexus.
This broad range patent will cast a long shadow over the smartphone marketplace, potentially stymieing future software innovation. This, ultimately, is not good news for customers.
