It was patent-grantin' day at the USPTO on Tuesday, and while most of the patents handed out to Apple, HP, Microsoft and others were pretty boring, it looks like Apple patent number D613,300 is going to make some waves -- it's a design patent on Apple's Cover Flow UI element. That's a
design patent, not a utility patent, so it covers the look of the system and not its functionality; think of it as covering the distinctive shape of a Coke bottle and not how it works and you'll get it. That means Apple now has the ability to sue anyone using a system that looks "substantially similar" to Cover Flow, so
Symbian^3 and Songbird are probably in for some changes. We'll see what happens -- it's not like anyone's called the lawyers in. Yet.
P.S.- We were going to include the
HP Slate here, but we went back and
watched the video and ironically enough they're actually faking flick scrolling a Cover Flow view using iTunes -- an app that doesn't actually support flick scrolling. Sigh, HP.
posted April 8th 2010 11:11AM
@Tegeril
but that is his point Apple didn't invent multi-touch they just patented it
If there is one thing I think they should patent, it's Cover Flow. Likewise Microsoft could try to patent that window snapping to edge trick. These two are very important designs that make the user experience so much better.
I don't really use Cover Flow for iTunes, since a lot of my albums are missing album art, but it's absolutely essential in Finder. I hate Cover Flow on my iPhone, however, as my album art collection is lacking and it always intrudes when I turn my iPhone sideways. They need a rotation lock (software feature) for these devices.
@onlymyrailgun
It isn't original design ! jukeboxes and little prize giving arcade machine in the 60s,70s & 80s all featured the cover flow look.
That si the point of computer GUI design it will always follow a physical movement or display we already use out here in the 3rd dimension.
@fourthletter
Yeah but there is so much you can do with the digital version. You can magnify, scroll fast so you can get a glimpse of everything, press space in Finder for a quick preview, have it synced with List View at the bottom and you can expand or contract folder contents, tap in iPod/iPhone to bring up a list... Apple implemented and integrated these features.
@onlymyrailgun
they can patent the shortcut keys, I'm not arguing that but the patent describes how it looks too, with the angle of the covers and how they scroll and that is just plain wrong when it is based on physical machines that have existed for years.
Apple tryed to sue Microsoft for GUI patents before and the judge decided since Xerox had it first and it was based on how an actual desk(top) looked and worked that Apple's patents were null and void.
I just hope HTC (Hero browser gives this view for favorites) Nokia, HP etc. fight this one in court, America needs to review their patent law fast it is stifling consumer choice and real innovation.
And Im guessing their next step is to sue Palm over their WebOS Internet browsing.
@MoonWalkerCTE Not the same. Different function, different appearance. Unless Apple got a very general patent on "things moving from side to side."
@Cringer Which they probarbly do. Palms WebOS browsing experience is much better.
@MoonWalkerCTE
The HTC Hero also uses coverflow view for your favorites or other open windows in it's web browser.
Anyone else notice that the "album cover" in the patent filing image is basically a rough of Coldplay's X&Y album?
I thought that a patent required that the information was not previously publicly seen.
Since Apple bought CoverFlow from someone who already had it on the market, that prior owner would have had to have already started the patent process before releasing his work. Otherwise, it would be too late for Apple to patent something already in the old work.
Please help me understand. Thanks.
Not just Symbian^3 and Songbird have cover flow, Samsung has it also in the I8910 HD : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8L1eAAVJyg#t=1m25s
they patented tetris? those bastards!
Apple should patent lawsuits, that's something they are good at.
Another bullshit patent for a look and feel I first saw on a jukebox in the late eighties, why to rape our pop culture then patent it Apple you suck !
I'll start this by admitting to not being an american patent lawyer and not being particularly familiar with american patent law in general, let alone american design patents.
There does seem to be some differences between what is in the patent and what is going on in the Symbian demo though. Mainly the layout of the covers when browsed, Apple uses rather distinct angles for the covers that are not in immediate view whilst the Symbian demo shows all covers facing the user straight on. The way I read the patent Apple isn't claiming the browsing left to right but how the covers are stacked and how the selected cover is then flipped.
The flipping might be a concern. How similar is "substantially similar"? Would it be enough that one aspect of the cover based browsing is pretty much the same as that covered in the patent for it to infringe? Could one avoid infringing, in for example the Symbian case, if the flipping was changed to vertical rather than horizontal?
I don't think I've seen the Songbird version.
Surely coverflow is a rehash of what is generally called "card view" used in many database apps and has been around for many many years. Apple weren't even the first to do it with audio or video.
@petebob796
A design patent (as you should know if you are going to comment on this topic) protects only what is EXACTLY (!!) shown in the patent drawings - with almost no 'wiggle room' allowed. Thus, if you or anyone else has seen this EXACT design, then feel free to invalidate the patent.
Several here have stated they have seen this design for "many" or "several" years. Kindly then direct us to somewhere (link? photo?) where this EXACT design has been used in the past.
@DigDug
So this won't affect my Compiz Shift Switcher?
@Engadget, again I beg, I plead, I grovel - please PLease PLEASE do not post any stories about patents as it gets all of your readers' panties in a bunch when they have little to no knowledge of intellectual property/patents. Just look at fourthletter's response above, clearly has no undersanding of what a design patent is hence the meaningless comment he posted.
@DigDug word.
@DigDug
I like patent posts, regardless of the comments. If you don't like them, just use "exclude".
I quite dislike Cover Flow anyway. This is actually a bit of a relief to me. I was worried the UI would start popping up in every device that comes out.
HD2 also uses coverflow. Will htc remove it now?
God I hate patents like this. Someone is going to patent the close button and we are all going to be screwed.
I am not sure why this is a patent but nevertheless if i were to view it as "art in technology", certainly apple should get the copyright (or design patent of whatever you want to call it).
I guess android users should now focus on cubed (or 3 as it is called in the marketplace, I believe).
i'm glad apple patented cover flow because it sucks. i'm glad the only dumb company that can use this dumb design is apple.
This patent kinda makes sense. It's new, non-obvious and useful. And--though it isn't required for a design to be patentable--there are plenty of other ways for companies to do the same thing (browse music).
This is a glorious day for design fascism! Bow people, bow to Apple or pay the consequences!
I use software called Calibre for managing my ebook collection. It has cover-flow for covers (as does the Nook as a sideline). Does this mean that software that has this feature will have get rid of it.
Even my LG mobile uses this system for it's menus. New ROM?
Alternate title: Apple granted design patent on Coldplay
It makes no sense whatsoever that anyone is able to get a patent on such a mundane non-utility thing.
The patent system, unfortunately, is clearly broken.
@Liberty
Um, this is a design patent, not a utility patent. This is precisely what design patents are supposed to cover, and thus while one may argue for a variety of reasons that the patent system is "broken," design patents such as this have nothing to do with that argument.
is windows vista/7 process flipper (whatever you wanna call it - the win+tab thing) "substantially similar" ?
@mrqs
Nope, not even close.