Apples new unlock patent gives them exclusive ownership of using a slide motion in any way to unlock a device, Android device maker had previously been able to work around the patents and avoid legal conflict but with the new patent this will be much harder for them to do.
Patent 8286103B2 is a clever, if sneaky, move by Apple. Android device makers changed their unlock methods to use different motions such as up and down or circular, Apple cottoned on to this and now have a patent that means these workaround methods still violate at least one Apple patent and, as a result, any mobile device manufacturer using slide to unlock methods of any type can now, in theory, be successfully sued by the company.It may have surprised many that Apple were awarded its original slide to unlock patents when they were clearly invalidated by examples of prior art such as the NeoNode n1m (announced two years before the iPhones release, and eleven months before Apples original patent filing) but what may be even more surprising is that the company have managed to patent their rivals already existing workaround methods so as to invalidate them.
