Ginger treats all slideswith the utmost gravityThis Kat is still in possession of, among other things, an old non-smart phone which he has to unlock by pressing a combination of keys -- or rather, by first trying to remember which combination of keys he has to press and then performing that operation. This leads him to remark on how quickly something that starts life as an exciting innovation is soon relegated to the depths of routine, carried out at a subconscious level at which no thought is required. Such is the fate of the slide-to-unlock technique which was the subject of a much-litigated patent. Occasional guest contributor Thomas Dubuisson takes up the tale:On 25 August 2015, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice, Germany’s highest court), affirmed the Federal Patent Court’s April 2013 decision to declare the German part of Apple’s European patent invalid. The action opposing the grant of the patent was brought by Motorola…
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