It appears Apple has received good news from the US Patent and Trademark Office regarding its much-publicized rubber-band patent (US patent #7,469,381): the organization has shared that it will issue a reexamination certificate to confirm four of Apple’s claims, FOSS Patents reports.
As we’ve previously detailed, the rubber-banding patent refers to the bouncing animation that takes place when a user scrolls past the end of a page. It’s a neat trick that helps make an interface feel more intuitive, but many have argued that it shouldn’t have been patentable in the first place.
Apple shared its victory with Judge Lucy Koh today, and revealed that claim 19 is among those tentatively confirmed — a claim which played a major role in Apple’s massive trial against rival Samsung.
As shown below, claims 14, 17 and 18 were also confirmed.
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Previously, the rubber-banding patent was re-examined and tentatively rejected after Apple’s $1.05 billion victory — then three of Apple’s claims were upheld, but not #19.
Samsung has worked diligently to invalidate Apple’s $1 billion win, and today’s news deals a major blow to the South Korean smartphone maker. With claim 19 in its back pocket, this could be Apple’s turning point.
Image credit: iStockphoto
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