Touchscreen enable/disable

Joe Pfeiffer jjpfeifferjr at comcast.net
Wed Jul 4 23:27:33 CEST 2007


kkr writes:
>Le mercredi 04 juillet 2007 à 16:53 +0200, Frederic Kettelhoit a écrit :
>> the iPhone has a proximity sensor. But it is patented afaik.
>
>
>Since a long time, proximity sensors are used in robotics... 
>
>So, how it's possible (for Apple) to patent it?

In the US, at present, there is virtually no review of patent
applications, and nearly anything can be patented.  The attitude is
that the patent is granted, and if there's something wrong with it the
courts can settle it later.  Here's the poster child for ridiculous
patents:

"Method of swinging on a swing", US Patent #6,368,227

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=6,368,227.PN.&OS=PN/6,368,227&RS=PN/6,368,227

One would have thought *somebody* in the patent office would have
remembered their own childhood well enough to remember just a little
bit of prior art...




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