The Key to Apple's Latest Patent is Series of New Claims

One of Apple's latest patent applications that were published today under number 20110239155 is basically the very same patent that was just granted to them this past June under patent 7,956,847. The only difference that stands out like a sore thumb is that Apple is now presenting their patent under a series of new claims. If you go to their granted patent and compare claims to this current application, you'll see that they're completely different. So it would appear that Apple has decided to expand their Multi-Touch claims.

With Microsoft making it crystal clear that Windows 8 with Metro will be made available on multi-touch systems including desktops next year – Apple may be shoring up their multi-touch patent claims for a possible showdown in the future and/or to further protect their right to extend their multi-touch patents to the likes of a future iMac Touch.

The key to Apple's latest patent is a series of new claims as listed below in full:

1. A method for processing touch inputs using a touch sensitive display device, comprising: detecting a touch input at a surface of the display device, the touch input including at least one touchdown point on the surface of the display device; identifying the touch input to be a scroll gesture associated with a scrollable area displayed on the display device, the scroll gesture including a drag of the at least one touchdown point in a direction of the intended scroll; and scrolling the scrollable area in the direction of the intended scroll.

2. The method of claim 1, including: periodically determining the number of touchdown points associated with the scroll gesture; and controlling a speed of the scrolling in accordance with the number of touchdown points determined to be associated with the scroll gesture, wherein the speed of the scrolling increases with an increased number of determined touchdown points.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a scroll action icon on the display device.

4. A computer system, comprising: a touch sensitive display device; means for detecting a touch input at a surface of the display device, the touch input including at least one touchdown point on the surface of the display device; means for identifying the touch input to be a scroll gesture associated with a scrollable area displayed on the display device, the scroll gesture including a drag of the at least one touchdown point in a direction of the intended scroll; and means for scrolling the scrollable area in the direction of the intended scroll.

5. The computer system of claim 4, including: means for periodically determining the number of touchdown points associated with the scroll gesture; and means for controlling a speed of the scrolling in accordance with the number of touchdown points determined to be associated with the scroll gesture, wherein the speed of the scrolling increases with an increased number of determined touchdown points.

6. The computer system of claim 4, including means for causing the display of a scroll action icon on the display device.

7. The computer system of claim 4, wherein the computer system is one of a mobile telephone and a digital audio player.

8. A program embodied in a computer-readable medium, the program containing executable instructions for causing a computer to perform a method of processing touch inputs, the computer including a touch sensitive display device, the method comprising: detecting a touch input at the surface of the display device, the touch input including at least one touchdown point on the surface of the display device; identifying the touch input to be a scroll gesture associated with a scrollable area displayed on the display device, the scroll gesture including a drag of the at least one touchdown point in a direction of the intended scroll; and scrolling the scrollable area in the direction of the intended scroll.

9. The program of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises: periodically determining the number of touchdown points associated with the scroll gesture; and controlling the speed of the scrolling in accordance with the number of touchdown points determined to be associated with the scroll gesture, wherein the speed of the scrolling increases with an increased number of determined touchdown points.

10. The program of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises displaying a scroll action icon on the display device.

Apple's patent covers the widest range of multi-touch applications imaginable including video and photo editing applications and many twists on adding dials and object controls to an iPad and more. The illustrations above only scratch the surface.

A Second Multi-Touch Patent's Claims are Expanding

A second multi-touch patent under the number 20110235990 follows the very same theme as the first one that we've outlined above. It holds different patent claims that were set in their recently granted patent. Here are Apple's newly expanded claims in full:

1. A method, comprising: at a handheld electronic device with a touch screen display: displaying a user selected video program on the touch screen display; and in response to detecting user contact with the touch screen display during display of the user selected video program, displaying an interactive progress bar.

2. The method of claim 1, including detecting movement of a finger contact from a first position on the progress bar corresponding to a current playback position to a second position on the progress bar; and in response to detecting a break or pause of the finger contact, restarting playback of the video program starting at a position within the video program corresponding to the second position on the progress bar.

3. The method of claim 1, including in response to detecting finger contact with the displayed progress bar, displaying index information corresponding to a current position of the finger contact on the displayed progress bar.

4. The method of claim 3, including in response to detecting cessation of the finger contact with the touch screen display for at least a predefined amount of time, ceasing display of the progress bar.

5. The method of claim 1, including displaying, simultaneously with the display of the progress bar, an elapsed video play time and a remaining video play time.

6. The method of claim 1, including in response to detecting the user contact with the touch screen display, maintaining the display of the video program and displaying the user interactive progress bar in a region of the touch screen display not occupied by the video program.

7. The method of claim 1, including in response to detecting cessation of the user contact with the touch screen display for at least a predefined amount of time, ceasing display of the progress bar while maintaining the display of the video program.

8. A handheld electronic device, comprising: a touch screen display; memory; one or more processors; and one or more programs stored in the memory and executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: displaying a user selected video program on the touch screen display; and in response to detecting user contact with the touch screen display during display of the user selected video program, displaying an interactive progress bar.

9. A computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a handheld electronic device with a touch screen display, cause the device to: display a user selected video program on the touch screen display; and in response to detecting user contact with the touch screen display during display of the user selected video program, displaying a progress bar.

10. A graphical user interface on a handheld electronic device with a touch screen display, comprising: a user selected video program displayed on the touch screen display; and an interactive progress bar, wherein the interactive progress bar is displayed in response to detecting user contact with the touch screen display during display of the user selected video program.

You could compare these newly expanded claims to Apple's granted patent 7,956,849 which was published in June of this year. The June patent claims emphasize a device implementing telephony whereas the current patent application makes no mention of such. All in all it's an interesting development that could prove very valuable in the years ahead. Our June report could be found here.  

Notice: Patently Apple presents a detailed summary of patent applications with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each such patent application is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trade Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any patent application should be read in its entirety for full and accurate details. Revelations found in patent applications shouldn't be interpreted as rumor or fast-tracked according to rumor timetables. Apple's patent applications have provided the Mac community with a clear heads-up on some of Apple's greatest product trends including the iPod, iPhone, iPad, iOS cameras, LED displays, iCloud services for iTunes and more. About Comments: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments.

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