When the first iPhone was introduced back in 2007, Steve Jobs was proud and thrilled to introduce the “slide to unlock†feature. He loved that the unlocking mechanism is so easy and not one that can be accidently triggered.
Like every innovation, he wanted to patent it so no one else would have it. So naturally Apple filed a patent application. Today, the Cupertino company was granted the iOS 5 “slide to unlock†feature patent as well as other patents by the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office).
Scott Forstall, Senior VP of iOS, is credited with its invention among several other engineers. It`s also worth noting that the patent was filed in 2005, over a year prior to the device`s release.
Nobody now gets to use the popular ‘Slide to Unlock’ without infringing on Apple’s patent unless a court rules it is invalid or prior art.
[Thanks]
