Apple awarded patent for unlocking touchscreens

October 25, 2011 By Mike Dunn

If you own a phone or tablet that requires you to slide the screen to unlock the device then it is now officially infringing on Apple's latest patent. Apple now owns the patent for unlocking touchscreen devices with a sliding motion.

Apple might have just been awarded the patent to rule all other mobile patents, and made all future legal battles more interesting. As of this morning Apple is officially the only company that is allowed to unlock a touchscreen device by using a sliding motion. We see this used on Apple devices as the familiar “slide to unlock” screen, but almost every other touch screen phone or tablet on the market currently use some form of sliding to unlock the device.

Apple originally applied for the patent way back in December of 2005, but it did not appear on a device until January 2007 when Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone. Seeing how every single Android device uses some form of sliding gesture to unlock the device this might be a momentous patent in the ongoing legal battles.

Samsung has been very publicly fighting Apple over patents in the recent months. Google recently purchased Motorola Mobility to protect Android from patent attacks from Apple or Microsoft. After reviewing the 18 most important patents involved in the Motorola purchase we can see that none of them protect them from Apple’s latest patent.

The language of the patent is very open, and basically any sliding motion used on a touch screen to unlock a device will infringe on the patent. It will be very interesting to see how this newly awarded patent will impact the future legal battles among touch screen operating systems. Read the description of the patent below.

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 device displays one or more unlock images with respect to which the predefined gesture is to be performed in order to unlock the device. The performance of the predefined gesture with respect to the unlock image may include moving the unlock image to a predefined location and/or moving the unlock image along a predefined path. The device may also display visual cues of the predefined gesture on the touch screen to remind a user of the gesture. In addition, there is a need for sensory feedback to the user regarding progress towards satisfaction of a user input condition that is required for the transition to occur.

Showing 39 comments

twc3000 at 3:04pm 16th February 2012 Just make the menu buttons at the bottom out of mouse pad like touch pad material, and when the user swipes them all in a row it unlocks the phone. Take that apple!
twc3000 at 3:00pm 16th February 2012 Just make the buttons at the bottom out of a like "mouse touch pad" material. When the user swipes them all in a row it unlocks. Take that apple!
Jeffrey Van Camp at 9:39am 28th October 2011 The very fact that a company thinks this merits patenting is evidence of how bad our patent system is. This is not an invention.
dicmccoy at 9:11pm 26th October 2011 Actually not every Android phone infringes on this patent. The Galaxy Nexus with Ice Cream Sandwich used face unlock remember. Maybe Google should screw Apple by putting a patent on the internet. Apple is getting out of control.
1. Mike Dunn at 10:22pm 26th October 2011 Face unlock is an option, but default is still a sliding motion.
makmart at 7:55pm 26th October 2011 maybe because apple made it famous that's why they gave the patent to them
amunoz_tico at 8:06am 26th October 2011 ***** MONEY MOVES MOUNTAINS ****
amunoz_tico at 7:59am 26th October 2011 THIS IS STUPID !!!!! They are limiting access to technology with these actions. I hope that soon a Court in USA remove this patent. ------------------------------- ESTO ES ESTUPIDO!!!! Están limitando el acceso a la tecnología con estas acciones. Espero que pronto alguna Corte en USA elimine esta patente.
Bert Van Kets at 10:23am 26th October 2011 I wonder if this patent is worldwide!?
Jeremy Whitman at 6:02am 26th October 2011 Yep Apple is evil! The best way we can fight this patient BS is with our wallet...
Fe Loreta Gamel Estrella at 4:23am 26th October 2011 I wonder how many people sitting on the US Patent Board are Apple employee's... hmmmp makes one wonder.
Fe Loreta Estrella at 9:13pm 25th October 2011 people on the US Patent Office are sure are a dumb bunch of technocrats... I'd love to see this group of people go visit our tiny little province of Basilan.. where the rebels love to cut off the heads of arrogant assholes...
1. amunoz_tico at 8:02am 26th October 2011 MONEY MOVES MOUNTAINS
Dave Moehle at 4:00am 26th October 2011 @Rhys Lloyd... Your comment only cements Robert Haston and my pov. Bragging about a user base that is so stupid that they line up like willing sheep to pay hundreds for a minor upgrade, seems moronic at best.
Carlos Alfaro at 8:56pm 25th October 2011 As an Apple fan, I also find this completely ridiculous.
Rhys Lloyd at 3:12am 26th October 2011 @Robert Haston: Yeah, because selling 4 million iPhones in 3 days for a product which is really only a minor upgrade from the previous model is really floundering. You're a sheep of the ignorant crowd.
Mike Marra at 8:10pm 25th October 2011 Android, Windows Apple, i could care less. Find you needs. I like iPad, and Samsung's smaller Tabs and Galaxy Phones. I also like WP7, which looks awesome. ICS sound pretty good to.
Eric Asianman Quach at 1:59am 26th October 2011 http://www.androidcentral.com/apple-granted-patent-slide-unlock-even-though-it-existed-2-years-they-invented-it - windows already got this technology. someone please use this to stop Apple. LOL
Eric Asianman Quach at 1:49am 26th October 2011 damn those griefers.. soon anything made of glass, aluminium, rectangular shaped, anything with an "A" in the letter will be open for apple's suing your ass.
Hunter Richards at 1:31am 26th October 2011 what next? A patent on talking on a phone? Holding it in my left hand? stupid
Jeff Lindsay at 1:26am 26th October 2011 Did Steve-o apply for the patent on death too?
agafaba at 6:02pm 25th October 2011 I am glad they won this, hopefully Apple sues everyone and everything over it, and the patent system can be shown for how broken it really is.
Rich Hansell at 12:56am 26th October 2011 Wasn't this awarded like 18 months ago? Besides, if "one-click" from amazon didn't break the patent system this one won't.. :)
Gloria Zwibel at 12:55am 26th October 2011 @ Raphael - Get another better android phone. They're out there. I'm happy with mine (Samsung Galaxy SII) and in fact my husband's friend who is a hard-core Apple products fan recently switched over to the Galaxy SII and couldnt' be happier.
Satish Pamidimarthi at 12:52am 26th October 2011 Its a UI/UX Design Pattern - Not a Patent to be awarded
Satish Pamidimarthi at 12:51am 26th October 2011 Ridankulous patent - Unlock Screen
Raphael de Montreal at 12:47am 26th October 2011 My android phone sucks though.....
1. Robert Burnham at 6:07am 26th October 2011 Get a Windows Phone?
Nathan Michael at 5:46pm 25th October 2011 Imagine if someone had patented the door. lmao, this is rediculous.
Robert Haston at 12:45am 26th October 2011 Apple knows Android is now King, and they will never catch up, so this is all they have left.... sad, very sad, especially for at one time such a super power in the cell phone business, now just floundering, putting out less than products, and continually suing those who have surpassed them. Sheep feel free to voice your ignorance......
1. Mike Dunn at 10:39pm 25th October 2011 Well Apple originally filed for this patent back in 2005 for the original iPhone. We still have no idea what Apple plans to do, if anything with this patent.
Dan Gabbi at 12:43am 26th October 2011 Just read a piece at the library few days ago that says ''you cannot patent an idea''.When did that change ?
Troy Stone at 5:34pm 25th October 2011 What kinda nonsense is that? So if I slide my deadbolt to the left to unlock my apartment door am I also infringing? Apple is really annoying.
Aveek Sen at 12:33am 26th October 2011 rotten apples.. haha
Aveek Sen at 12:33am 26th October 2011 lol
Donn De Vore at 12:32am 26th October 2011 The whole patent war is coming to a head. I don't feel gestures like this are patentable. If so, then someone like Ford could prevent any automobile being turned on with a key. There has to be a common shared experience with all systems or we all pay a price for extra training or pay exorbitant prices on our equipment that we use for licensing fees. If I were Xerox, I would start suing both Microsoft and Apple for infringing on their patents.
1. Mike Dunn at 10:36pm 25th October 2011 I really can't think of any other practical way to unlock a touch screen device without the use of more than one physical button. Even though the wording of the patent seems to cover pretty much any sliding gesture it seems crazy to think this could really hold up if put to the test.
Michael Schmidlen at 12:32am 26th October 2011 I can ONLY hope that this patent will be the straw that breaks the back of the US Patent system. This is beyond ABSURD!!!
M Schmidlen at 5:32pm 25th October 2011 This is totally ABSURD. Hopefully, this will cause some much needed updated patent legislation to be quickly enacted to correct/address the obvious abuse of the system by ALL of these technology companies...