Apple's patent application for multipoint gesture control gets nod from patent office

The application for invention titled gesturing with a multipoint sensing device was filed in 2008

Apple Inc has received a favourable decision from the Indian patent authority for its invention, gestural control, which works through multiple finger touches or a near touch on the touchpad of a device.

The company had filed an application for its invention titled “Gesturing with a multipoint sensing device,” on August, 2008, in the Patent Office, Kolkata, as a National Phase Application arising out of a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international application dated January, 2007.

The application was examined and a first examination report (FER) was issued, for which the company had filed a reply and amended claims.

Later, the Patent Office raised objections, including that a few of the claims are not definitive and clear and a hearing was offered to the company earlier this month. The patent agent of Apple attended and had responded to the objections.

“On considering the submission of the applicants vis-a-vis, the pending objections, all the outstanding objections have been met. In view of the reasons above, I hereby proceed for grant with the application.....,” said Sujoy Sarkar, assistant controller of patents and designs, Kolkata.

The complete specification of the application elaborates that “multipoint sensing devices have a number of advantages over conventional single point devices in that they can distinguish more than one object (finger) simultaneously or near simultaneously.”

The method is to identify multipoint touch or near touch and gestures made using multiple fingers, fingers and palms, a finger and a stylus, multiple styli or a combination of these modes, on a multipoint sensing device including touch pads, touch screens, touch sensitive housings in monitors, keyboards, navigation pads, tablets, mice, media players and others, and  initiate action, accordingly.