Apple gets patent for portable electronic device for photo management in India

The order comes at a time when the company has announced launch of the iPhone 7 in India

Apple Inc has received a patent related to a portable electronic device for photo management in India. The application filed in 2008 was published in 2009 and was taken up for hearing later. The Patent authority reexamined the application based on the hearing and written submissions and stated that the objections raised were clarified and met the requirements of the Patent Act and rules.

The Patent Office in Chennai issued an order stating that the application's status has now proceeded to grant of patent.

The order comes at a time when the company has announced prices for its new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which are expected to hit the Indian market from October 7, 2016.

According to the specifications the company filed with the Patent Office, the patent is for a portable electronic device with a touch screen, displaying an array of thumbnail images corresponding to a set of photographic images and which replaces the displayed array with a selected image upon the user touching a thumbnail image.

The selected image will be displayed at a larger scale than the corresponding thumbnail image and will later allow to scroll to the next image as the user moves the touch screen display.

According to reports, the company has been fighting alleged infringement of the patents for portable electronic device for photo management in various parts of the world.