Another bizarre Apple patent troll case, in which Runtime Revolution plays a bit part

[Bruce Pokras]

The patent is RE43,318 which is a reissue of 6,920,619. The first few claims will give you an idea of what is covered:

 1. A system for manipulating images comprising a screen upon which an image is displayed; and a computer coupled to the screen, the computer causing the images to be manipulated in response to location inputs from a pointing device, the system being characterized in that: when the image is being dragged in response to the location inputs and the system detects that the velocity with which the image is being dragged exceeds a threshold velocity, the system responds by removing the image from the display without leaving any representative thereof in the display.

 2. The system set forth in claim 1 wherein: the removed image is automatically replaced by another image.

 3. The system set forth in claim 2 wherein: there is a plurality images, each image belonging to a class of a plurality thereof according to the image's content; and when the image that is being removed is dragged in a first direction, the removed image is replaced with a different image of the same class; and when the image that is being removed is dragged in a second direction, the removed image is replaced with an image of a different class.

 4. The system set forth in claim 3 wherein: the classes belong to a hierarchy; and the second direction includes a third direction specifying a class from a higher level in the hierarchy and a fourth direction specifying a class from a lower level in the hierarchy.

 5. The system set forth in claim 1 wherein: the pointing device is a touch panel.

 6. The system set forth in claim 5 wherein: the touch panel is transparent and is mounted on the screen.

The claims that were added in the reissue in order to cover the iPhone are:

18. The system set forth in claim 2 wherein: the removed image and the other image belong to an ordered set thereof; if the removed image was dragged in a first direction, the other image precedes the removed image in the ordered set;  and if the removed image was dragged in a second direction, the other image follows the removed image in the ordered set.

19. The system set forth in claim 8 wherein: the removed image and the other image belong to an ordered set thereof; if the removed image was moved in a first direction, the other image precedes the removed image in the ordered set; and if the removed image was moved in a second direction, the other image follows the removed image in the ordered set.

20. The system set forth in claim 15 wherein: the removed image and the replacement image belong to an ordered set thereof; if the removed image was moved in a first direction, the replacement image precedes the removed image in the ordered set; and if the removed image was moved in a second direction, the replacement image follows the removed image in the ordered set.


On Jun 2, 2013, at 11:48 PM, kee nethery <kee at kagi.com> wrote:

> In the article:
> 
>     http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/06/apple-betrayed-by-its-own-law-firm/
> 
> I am not sure what the lawyer patented exactly but if is was moving an object on the screen by pointing to it, there were touch screens way back when and the sample code from the 1993 HyperTalk manual showed how to move objects with your finger.
> 
> The script isn't "grab me" but it was pretty close to that.
> 
> Page 319 of the Hypercard scripting language guide includes sample code:
> 
> on mouseDown
>     repeat until the mouse is up
>          set the loc of me to the mouseLoc
>     end repeat
> end mouseDown
> 
> Any locked object with that script would get moved around when you touched it with your finger using a touchscreen.
> 
> 
> A 1994/1995 web page:
> 
>     http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jonmc/Turb/
> 
> Details a system using a Mac and a touchscreen.
> 
> 
> Wondering what the lawyer patented and how it was different from state of the art 1993.
> 
> Kee Nethery
> 
> 
> On Jun 2, 2013, at 7:43 PM, Brahmanathswami <brahma at hindu.org> wrote:
> 
>> Great publicity
>> 
>> Mind-boogling that these software patents get approved.
>> 
>> Wasn't this part of Hypercard?
>> 
>> on mouseDown
>>  grab me
>> end mouseDown
>> 
>> 
>> Brahmanathaswami
>> 
>> 
>> Björnke von Gierke wrote:
>>> Of large importance to this list is the third last paragraph, (last link on the first page of two):
>>> 
>>> "
>>> ...
>>> Milekic had never written a line of code or taken a programming class; he told a Philly tech publication that his touchscreen software was built with a program called RunTime Revolution, which says it "makes programming learnable by anyone who can use a computer."
>>> "
>> 
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