So for those who haven't heard, Apple has decided to sue phone maker HTC for 20 separate patent infringements. Apple, who has had some quite ludicrous (at least in my opinion) patents granted over the past few years has "decided to do something about it," said Steve Jobs. Yes, the same Steve Jobs who years ago was recorded on video emulating Picasso in that
"good artists copy, great artists steal."
Now my argument isn't that our patent system is broken, as many believe it is. I'll leave that to those who feel the most strongly about it. Mine is in the principle that fundamental interfaces exist that cannot be inherently patented. I call into question a few of the
litany of patents that include such gold as "unlocking a device using gestures on an unlock image" and "touch screen device, method and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics."
Now I understand that there are several methods to unlocking a phone device, but there's one thing that can't be removed from the system, my finger. I feel as though Apple has simply tried to screw the consumer out of the touch screen interface on any other mobile device. Virtually all Android phones use this gesture, in addition to the button like Apple's, to unlock the screen. My problem with Apple being granted this patent is that it is so fundamental to the functionality of the touch screen interface on so many devices that not having this functionality almost defeats the purpose. After all, I had thought the days of butt dialing were over.
In my mind, I keep drawing an analogy between Apple patenting a device such as the keyboard, or some other commonly accepted user interface for communication and functionality in a device. It would be my argument that unlocking the phone by a touch screen slide is fundamental to the usability of a touchscreen device, and thus should not have been allowed to be patented. I want a device with those functionalities that isn't an iPhone, and I'm not the only one with that sentiment. If great artists truly steal, I want to see Apple innovate upon what they have currently built. Isn't that what competition is about? Sure there can be a million phones that do exactly what the iPhone does, the challenge for Apple is to make something better. It almost seems as though Apple is burnt out on innovation and wants to cash in on what it has already done.
Of course, the main problem that Apple has is not with HTC. The main problem Apple has is with Google, who is the main supplier of the OS that HTC installs on the vast majority of their phones and the root of the main issues within the suit as laid out by Apple. Apple was smart not to go after big daddy Google yet, although Google has announced it's
support of HTC in the suit. It will be very interesting to see how this turns out.
Many think it will be simply settled outside of court, which is probably the most likely. However, that still doesn't solve the problem Apple has with Google. In my opinion, Apple knows that they can't win a bout with the tech giant one-on-one, but will they turn on other Android supporters to take down the herd before taking on the main prize?
No matter what happens, there will only be one true loser from this squabble: the consumer.
