Relax, Everyone -- Apple's New Multi-Touch Patent Won't Kill Its Smartphone Rivals

Once again, Apple got a new multi-touch patent. And once again, some people claim that Apple now owns own touch interfaces on smartphones. But much of the debate over the breadth of the claims glosses over the intricacies of language that restrict what the patent covers. Those limitations are significant on the surface, and could turn out to be even more so in a court battle.

What the patent actually said
Some have mistakenly focused on the patent's abstract, when only the claims in a patent have legal protection. As is true with most patents, Apple's patent number 7,966,578 has highly specific claims. The most important are the five independent claims, which set the framework for understanding what the patent actually covers. Here's the first independent claim:

A method, comprising: at a portable multifunction device with one or more processors, memory, and a touch screen display; displaying a portion of web page content in a stationary application window on the touch screen display, wherein the portion of web page content includes: a frame displaying a portion of frame content, and other content of the web page, comprising content of the web page other than the frame content; detecting a translation gesture by a single finger on or near the touch screen display; in response to detecting the translation gesture by the single finger, translating the web page content to display a new portion of web page content in the stationary application window on the touch screen display, wherein translating the web page content includes simultaneously translating the displayed portion of the frame content and the other content of the web page; detecting a translation gesture by two fingers on or near the touch screen display; and in response to detecting the translation gesture by the two fingers, translating the frame content to display a new portion of frame content in the stationary application window on the touch screen display, without translating the other content of the web page.

Let's break this down:

• The claim covers a method, or a series of steps to accomplish something.
• It only covers the method when running on a portable multifunction device with processors, memory, and a touch screen display. So, for example, a single-use portable device that happened to employ a processor, memory, and touch screen display wouldn't be affected.
• The display must show a stationary application window showing a portion of Web page content.
• The the content has a "frame" that displays some of the Web page content, with additional content outside the frame.
• A single finger gesture causes the Web page to display a new portion in the application window, such that both the content in the frame and outside the frame translate, or shift, at the same time.
• A two-fingered gesture causes the Web page to display a new portion in the application window, such that the content frame translates so the frame shows a new portion of the page, but the content outside the frame doesn't translate.

The second independent clause and some dependent clauses extend the same concept to more general page content, such as a word processing page or map, and to gestures involving more fingers, so long as the two types of translation use gestures with different numbers of fingers. The third through fifth independent clauses cover the graphical user interface, multifunction device, and programs on a storage medium involved with this particular display and translation function.

That is a long list of limitations. "There is no way this patent is going to encapsulate all uses of gesturing with a computer," says independent technology patent attorney Raymond Van Dyke. For example, the patent might not cover a mobile phone multi-touch interface that used two different gestures, each employing the same number of fingers, to accomplish the two types of tasks described.

Apple still might have a good legal tool for its ongoing war of legal attrition with so many other smartphone vendors. "Even though you might have a lot of limitations, if they have a choke point, that could be powerful," Van Dyke says.

Other limitations may yet emerge
There may also be other limitations that appear in the patent prosecution history. For example, did Apple's lawyers concede that a stationary application window with a frame wasn't the same as an application running full screen? "You've got to add all these limitations together and then you can understand the scope of the claim," Van Dyke says.

Will this suddenly allow Apple to shut down all its competitors? Pretty unlikely, and this patent probably won't be its biggest ammo in its patent wars, even though many assume it will be. However, could it force others -- Google (GOOG), in particular -- to more clearly differentiate their interfaces from Apple's? Very possibly.

Related:

• UI War Brewing: Microsoft Multi-Touch Patent App Predates Apple's
• Can Apple's Multi-Touch Patent Withstand Scrutiny -- or Challenge?
• Apple Multi-Touch Patent on Shaky Ground

Image: morgueFile user southernfried, site standard license. Erik Sherman

Erik Sherman is a widely published writer and editor who also does select ghosting and corporate work. The views expressed in this column belong to Sherman and do not represent the views of CBS Interactive. Follow him on Twitter at @ErikSherman or on Facebook.

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