[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S 4 General] ftc_osiris:
Wow, so many falsities and misunderstandings so little time.

1. Apple filed the patent on this idea in, ready for it, . . . 2008. Read this:

from Apple Appl.:

This application is a divisional of patent application Ser. No. 12/242,251, filed Sep. 30, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by referenced herein in its entirety. This application claims the benefit of and claims priority to patent application Ser. No. 12/242,251, filed Sep. 30, 2008.

In layman's terms, Apple filed a patent in 2008 and has branched that patent into a new appl. filed January 2013. Anything that Apple attempts to get must be disclosed (ie laid out, explained etc) in the 2008 appl. They CANNOT ADD SOMETHING NEW AFTER THAT DATE!!!!!!!

Apple cannot patent something after SOMEONE ELSE has a product that has that feature. Patent Examiners HAVE SMARTPHONES OF THEIR OWN. They get very suspicious when a product they OWN has the feature that an applicant is trying to patent. The reason it sometimes FEELS like these patents are AFTER THE FACT is that getting a patent takes between 3 and 10 YEARS. Some patents are granted (read go into effect) after the invention is COMPLETELY USELESS. Others are granted right when they become industry standard. That last one is a real problem and the PTO really needs to work on getting patents issued (if good inventions) or proving up obviousness in a convincing way as quickly as possible instead of dragging out prosecution for 3 to 10 years. That is not the patentee's fault, that is the US government's fault for delaying patent issuance for so long. Only an idiot would continue trying to get a patent when an Examiner has provided GOOD prior art with a convincing basis for why the applicant's idea is obvious.

2. Android did much to copy the look and feel of Apple's interface. There is nothing wrong with that UNLESS Apple had a patent on the particular feature.

3. Patents are not the problem. Ask any successful start up company. 90% will have patents or applications pending. Why? Because otherwise, companies like Apple and Samsung "borrow" the start ups NEW idea and . . . the startup is dead.

4. I agree that SOME patents are WHOLLY unsupportable (eg Apple's IPad design patent). Quit worrying so much about patents. Its a red herring.

If Samsung simply came up with a different way of doing things, like they have done with the lockscreen, they would be free of Apple.

5. There have always been patent wars. You don't remember them because the media hypes the new ones to ridiculous proportions. Patent wars are hip now. They used to be regarded as just another type of boring legal battle between big companies.

6. Before flaming me, I have no connection to Apple.

I personally hate Apple.

Their "locked down" philosophy drives me up the wall. BUT, come on, when they came up with all these IPhone features back before 2008, WE HAD BLACKBERRYs and Windows Mobile 5/6 as the cool phones. Remember those days? They did INVENT many touch screen interface features. I hate them but they have just as much right under the patent system to protect their ideas as a small business.

Why should Android, Samsung or HTC be able to simply copy ideas from Apple's

published patents

and then say, we INNOVATED those things that Apple INVENTED 5 years ago?

If you have ever had a great idea and then had SOMEONE ELSE STEAL IT or otherwise incorporate your idea into their product, you know how that feels.

ALSO, Patents are NOT FOREVER. Many expire within 10 years of taking effect.

Rant over with. Please read up on patents before talking about them. It might help.