‘Slide to Unlock’, one of the defining features found in an Apple iPhone has been denied a patent according to the Federal Court of Appeals at Karlsruhe in Germany. The upper court has upheld the 2013 verdict of a German lower court. While rejecting Apple’s appeal of patenting the feature, the verdict even mentioned that a similar technique was used by Neonode Inc., a Swedish company, even before the first iPhone was launched in the year 2007.
‘Slide to unlock’ is not a patent of Apple
The verdict has come as a setback for the company, which is reported to be gearing up for the launch of new iPhones in a couple of weeks. However, the Apple office in Germany has not released any official statement in response to this verdict.
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With a few days left for the launch of the rumored iPhone handsets, the company may be busy adding some ground-breaking features to make the device unique.
Even though Apple did not make any comment, the verdict is surely to be a cause of rejoice for Motorola, who originally challenged Apple’s claim for patenting the ‘Slide to Unlock’ feature. Samsung joined Motorola initially but later decided to withdraw their support.
