U.S. Patent Office Finds Apple’s Multitouch Patent “Invalid”

Apple Law Suits

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a preliminary notice indicating that Apple’s patent that covers multitouch technology, including scrolling, might be invalid.

The ruling, however, was not issued with finality and Apple still has two months to file an initial response and several appeals before the patent would be struck out. And even if this particular patent be rendered invalid, the Cupertino-based company would still have a number of multitouch-related patents to troll… sorry, use against other companies such as Motorola and Samsung.

This was not the first time Apple’s previously-approved patent has been revoked. Its patent regarding a “rubberband snapback effect” on movable content on touchscreens was declared invalid.

Source: FOSS Patents, via TechCrunch