APPLE AWARDED LIMITED PINCH-TO-ZOOM PATENT

Apple just added another arrow to its patent quiver.  The USPTO has granted Apple a limited patent on the pinch-to-zoom gesture used on touch displays.  The patent is specific as to what it covers, however there is a timing issue that is very open.  The patent reads:

1. A multitouch display detects at least two contacts.
2. Those contacts perform a first gesture.
3. That gesture adjusts an image in some way: magnification, orientation and rotation are specifically claimed, but the patent is broad enough to cover virtually any adjustment.
4. The first set of contacts is broken.
5. A second set of contacts is detected.
6. The second contacts perform another gesture within a pre-determined period of time.
7. The gesture continues to adjust the image in the same way.

Steps 5-7 are worth noting, Apple does not have a patent on pinch-to-zoom generally, but rather pinching to zoom and pinching to zoom again within a certain time frame.  The specific amount of time is not noted, although it must be somewhere, so this patent wouldn't really apply unless there is a clock ticking and a second gesture takes place.

This patent now granted will be retroactive to December 20, 2005 the original filing date, which is way before anyone had ideas on how prevalent touchscreen displays would be. [Engadget]