Germany’s Federal Patent Court on Thursday ruled that Apple’s (AAPL) “slide to unlock” patent is invalid, marking a significant victory for Android vendors. The company proposed 14 amendments in an effort to salvage the patent, however the court found that the action of “unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image” didn’t meet certain requirements under European patent law and as such was not patentable. According to Florian Mueller of Foss Patents, Thursday’s ruling can be appealed and Apple is expected to do so. The company previously used its slide to unlock patent to have Motorola’s products banned in Germany and filed a similar suit against Samsung.
German court invalidates Apple’s ‘slide to unlock’ patent
Published Apr 5th, 2013 6:24PM EDT
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Dan joins the BGR team as the Android Editor, covering all things relating to Google’s premiere operating system. His work has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business and Yahoo News, among other publications. When he isn’t testing the latest devices or apps, he can be found enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City.
