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iPhone pinch pinched?

The Apple iPhone has popularised the use of a pinch gesture to increase the size of text, a photo or other data on a screen. Is the pinch intellectual property, hence an asset for which Apple can claim a monopoly right of ownership? Some bloggers think so, but given the reality of patent litigation caution is required. To rousing applause, in January 2007 Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, demonstrated (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze559mhbrD0) the pinch on an iPhone. By early 2007 Apple had filed over 200 patents for iPhone. Apple's smartphone was launched in the US on 29 June 2007. Two years later, on 20 January 2009 Apple's pinch-related iPhone patent application was accepted and US patent #7,479,949 (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2 Sect2=HITOFF p=1 u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html r=1 f=G l=50 co1=AND d=PTXT s1=7,479,949 OS=7,479,949 RS=7,479,949) was granted. Listed at the top of the list of its inventors was Mr Jobs.

Full post as published by Lightbulb IP blog on January 27, 2009 (boomark / email).