A court filing from Samsung at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has invalidated Apple’s bounce scroll, or “rubber-banding,” patent. According to FOSS Patents, the ruling isn’t final but the USPTO has declared that all 20 claims of Apple’s rubber-banding patent are invalid. This includes claim 19, which Apple used against Samsung in the trial this summer.
Samsung broke the news late last night to Judge Lucy Koh, stating that the USPTO found Apple’s invention was either based on prior art or, in some instances, just obvious. Apple must now prove to the patent office or the court of appeals that the IP was new and not based on prior art.
Samsung has already found a way around infringing on the overscroll bounce patent, but would likely bring the feature back if Apple isn’t able to prove that it wasn’t based on prior art and the patent becomes officially invalidated.
This could prove to be a significant win for Samsung in this patent battle, though Apple is still in the lead. Yesterday two Samsung patent claims against Apple were rejected by a Japanese court, but Apple will soon have to apologize to Samsung after losing an appeal in the UK.
Image Credit: Slate Magazine
