Twenty-five new patents have been added to Apple's patent portfolio on Tuesday. But one particular patent will make Android and smartphone makers run for their money, reveals a recent report.
According to Phandroid, one of the latest patents, named Patent No. 8,223,134, approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, will become "mother of all smartphone software patents."
Patent No. 8,223,134 grants Apple rights to graphical user interfaces for displaying electronic lists and documents including camera, messaging, blogging, telephone, video player, browser, calendar, search, maps, email, and many more on mobile devices. The scope of "Portable electronic device, method, and graphical user interface for displaying electronic lists and documents" patent is so diversified that it could really bring trouble for the Android partners.
The initial filings for the patent approval date back to 2007.
The background of the patent states that "As portable electronic devices become more compact, and the number of functions performed by a given device increase, it has become a significant challenge to design a user interface that allows users to easily interact with a multifunction device. This situation is unfortunate because the user interface is the gateway through which users receive not only content but also responses to user actions or behaviors."
Back in 2007, most of the smartphone makers used to rely on physical keys and buttons over all-touch interfaces. But Apple's invention of iPhone has encouraged many such makers to shift from keys and buttons to Apple's all-touch graphical user interfaces.
While the new patent strengthens Apple's arsenal, it also increases chances of seeing more patent infringement cases filed by Apple against other smartphone makers in coming days. Apple, known for its overprotective nature of safeguarding its patents, now might affect a healthy competition and limit technological advancement in the smartphone space.
The Cupertino-based tech giant is already involved in patent infringement cases with HTC, Samsung and Motorola.
