Breaking: Apple Files Touchscreen Mouse Patent

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gogogadgetliver

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[citation][nom]phuckdah8rs[/nom]@notanakin: Considering every mouse they [Apple] currently sell has the ability to right-click, that's not exactly something new to apple. But thanks for giving your opinion without using one![/citation]

Don't try to distort reality to make your point. You aren't Steve Jobs.

Go sit at an Apple device and do the following: Left click, right click, click with both, Left hold then right click, Right hold then left click.

Didn't work so well did it? Apple makes single button mice, period. They use software to emulate the 2nd button but that's not the same thing. If you want to right click on a Mac you have to buy a non-apple mouse.
 
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Apple mice most certainly have a right mouse button. Actually the mouse before the current (magic mouse) has 4 buttons. To get the right button to behave as a right button you just have to turn it on in system preferences.

For the rest of the article it sounds like a write up for their current mouse which is the magic mouse. It basically has a trackpad on the top.
 

hellwig

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[citation][nom]malikxaxu[/nom]I disagree with your statement regarding first-to-invent vs. first-to-file. If indeed there was such an article outhere, and it was published BEFORE filing of Apple's patent application, then it is prior art which can bar Apple from obtaining the patent, regardless of whether it is a first-to-file or first-to-invent patent system. First-to-invent is cumbersome in that it requires affidavits and swearing behind a reference to effectively establish that a given party invented before another one. In fact, there is room to argue that a first-to-invent system does not go along the intent for patent protection; provide an incentive for innovators to share innovation (through publication of patent) provided they obtain a limited exclusivity - insofar as this sharing is done asap so that others may benefit from such knowledge asap.[/citation]

Yes, first-to-file encourages faster information sharing, but it tends to benefit those with more resources. Those who can put in more labor and afford the filing fee tend to get the patent. Yes, an article about the device would be prior-art, but if you invent something in your basement, and even seek-out financial backing, it won't help you in a first-to-file system (and if you haven't filed the patent yet or finalized the details, are you really going to publish an article about it)? In the U.S., the fact that it costs $10,000 to file is good reason not to run out and file every idea you come up with (maybe its cheaper/easier in first-to-file countries?).

Still, both sides seem to have their benefit, the U.S. uses one (and is a world leader in tech), and most of the rest of the world uses the other (including another leader, Japan).
 

dan55

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I don't know about you guys, but this sounds like Apple trying to find as many ways as possible to sue as many companies as possible, but then again, isn't that like most tech companies? Hell, I mean everybody is suing everybody nowadays. Those lawyers have got to be laughing.
 

gogogadgetliver

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[citation][nom]virgahyatt[/nom]@gogogadgetliverApple mice most certainly have a right mouse button. Actually the mouse before the current (magic mouse) has 4 buttons. To get the right button to behave as a right button you just have to turn it on in system preferences.[/citation]

I understand already that there is emulation. It just doesn't work right. You can right or left click but not both at the same time or any combination thereof. The uses of right click are so limited in OSX that this isn't often noticed. Once you do anything Windows related (Bootcamp, running a PC compatible game, etc) you'll find the limitation.

Need to press-to-zoom AND pull the trigger in a 3d shooter? You'll have to zoom, unzoom and hold real still, then pull the trigger and hope your crosshairs didn't drift.

Apple is stupid for confining themselves to one button. A second one adds little complexity but gains enormous use.
 
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