Samsung vs Apple Claim Analysis

In this post, I'll be analyzing one of the claims of one of the patents litigated in the Samsung vs Apple lawsuit. In the case, a panel of appeal judges actually overturned Apple's $120 million victory against Samsung. The case consisted of three patents:

1. 5,946,647 - "System and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data"

2. 8,046,721 - "Unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image"

3. 8,074,172 - "Method, system, and graphical user interface for providing word recommendations"

In this post, I will be focusing on claim #1 in the third patent (8,074,172), which is as follows:

1. A method, comprising:

at a portable electronic device with a touch screen display:

in a first area of the touch screen display, displaying a current character string being input by a user with the keyboard;

in a second area of the touch screen display that is between the first area and the keyboard, displaying the current character string or a portion thereof and a suggested replacement character string for the current character string on opposite sides of the second area;

replacing the current character string in the first area with the suggested replacement character string if the user activates a space bar key on the keyboard;

replacing the current character string in the first area with the suggested replacement character string if the user performs a first gesture on the suggested replacement character string displayed in the second area; and

keeping the current character string in the first area and adding a space if the user performs a second gesture in the second area on the current character string or the portion thereof displayed in the second area.

This claim is all about Apple's revolutionary autocorrect feature, in which the screen will prompt the user for word suggestions when typing on the touchscreen keyboard. In the title of the claim, Apple specifies it can only be used for a touch screen display on a portable electronic device. Under the subpoints, they categorize different areas of the screen in terms of what it will show for its autocorrect feature. In the first point, it says basically that the screen will show the user's typing string in one area. In the second point, it says that there is another area of the screen where it will show the suggested replacement character string for the string that is currently being typed by the user. In the third point, if a user presses space with a suggested replacement character string, then the software will automatically replace the string for you. In the fourth point, if the string will be replaced if there are a series of gestures applied, triggering the autocorrect.

It's cool to see a patent claim for a feature that we all use everyday now. The patent was very easy to read and comprehend, which is something that I believe is crucial for a solid patent these days.