Apple has been awarded two design patents that cover the animated portions of the graphical user interface of iOS. The patents were originally filed three years ago and cover Apple’s popular slide to unlock and its keyboard letter popup feature which facilitates touch typing by enlarging the letter that you are typing. The two features made their debut when the original iPhone was launched back in 2007 and have been emulated in different forms on other handsets including Android and Windows Mobile.
Before Android users drop their DROID X in disgust and jump to the conclusion that their lovely handset may now be infringing upon a patent owned by Apple (gasp!). Folks should note that these are design patents and cover the look and feel of the feature, not the feature itself. This potentially paves the way for other platforms to emulate the slide or keyboard popup as long as the design elements do not look substantially similar to the iPhone. Thanks to the long approval process for patents, Google and other mobile developers have been aware of these patterns from the beginning and presumably have avoided any potential patent violations. Rest easy, Android owners your beloved handsets are not pwned by Apple.
[Via TUAW, Patent no. D621849, and Patent no. D621848]