Will Apple and Microsoft fight over the new iOS 5 feature?

[Ashlyn]

It’s nice to become a part of this friendly community. I am working on ProCamera – an iPhone camera app. We lately released an update containing a feature called ‘QuickFlick album access’ – people can just gesture to see their photos or videos. Amazingly, Apple announced iOS 5 with exactly the same feature. Shockingly, Microsoft claims to have a patent on it (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/06/13/ios-5s-fancy-new-camera-trick-microsoft-has-a-patent-on-it/). Any thoughts on whether these two giants will fight when iOS 5 comes out this fall? And what will this mean for our tiny company and others like us?

Ashlyn from ProCamera

 

[KingCrimson]

It’s nice to become a part of this friendly community. I am working on ProCamera – an iPhone camera app. We lately released an update containing a feature called ‘QuickFlick album access’ – people can just gesture to see their photos or videos. Amazingly, Apple announced iOS 5 with exactly the same feature. Shockingly, Microsoft claims to have a patent on it (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/06/13/ios-5s-fancy-new-camera-trick-microsoft-has-a-patent-on-it/). Any thoughts on whether these two giants will fight when iOS 5 comes out this fall? And what will this mean for our tiny company and others like us?

Ashlyn from ProCamera

2011 = year Apple copycats everyone.

 

[*LTD*]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Apple announced iOS 5 on June 6th.

Your app went live on June 7th.

MS (as you say) appears to have a patent on this. We don't know whether Apple has a patent on this exact feature, etc. Nothing has been challenged by anyone yet.

You took your chances. At the moment I see nothing unfair here from either side, apart from the possibility you didn't do your homework.

Make as much money as you can in the meantime and enjoy it while it lasts. In fact, all we're talking about here is a single feature. Heck, you might even try patenting it and see what happens.

 

[neiltc13]

Everything I've seen about iOS5's new camera features appear to be a direct copy of Windows Phone 7.

- Camera access from lock screen (although Windows Phone 7 goes one better and allows camera access from sleep, because all phones have a dedicated two three state camera button)

- Dedicated shutter button

- Swipe back to access previously taken photos when camera is running

- Automatic upload to iCloud/Skydrive

 

[*LTD*]

.I just found this:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/6/prweb8565886.htm

QuickFlick album access is a new iOS 5 feature that will come in this fall. The ProCamera team developed this feature before Apple announced iOS 5.

Are you sure about that? How do you know it wasn't already in development at Apple? Apparently you didn't even know MS might already have a patent on it? Did you conduct a patent search?

This feature in your app made it into your June 7th update (ver. 3.1), a day *after* Apple showcased iOS 5.

 

[Ashlyn]

The MS patent application.

Yes, here is the application for the MS patent: http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph...9619.PGNR.&OS=DN/20110119619RS=DN/20110119619.

I guess we will just see what will happen in the fall.

Thanks,

Ahslyn

 

[Ashlyn]

.I just found this:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/6/prweb8565886.htm

QuickFlick album access is a new iOS 5 feature that will come in this fall. The ProCamera team developed this feature before Apple announced iOS 5.

Are you sure about that? How do you know it wasn't already in development at Apple? Apparently you didn't even know MS might already have a patent on it? Did you conduct a patent search?

This feature in your app made it into your June 7th update (ver. 3.1), a day *after* Apple showcased iOS 5.

The new version of ProCamera got approved before Apple announced iOS 5, we released it to the App Store on June 7. That's all. And, the feature took the whole team several months, no one could have it done in one day I guess...

 

[*LTD*]

The new version of ProCamera got approved before Apple announced iOS 5, we released it to the App Store on June 7. That's all. And, the feature took the whole team several months, no one could have it done in one day I guess...

You'll need to prove the timeline. All it looks like at this point is that both you and Apple were working on the same or very similar feature, and Apple had to wait until WWDC to showcase it.

I'm not taking a side against you, you have a great app and it goes without saying that you put a lot of work into it. But all it looks like is a coincidence at this point. And what about that MS patent?

Have you communicated your concerns to Apple? I understand that might be a risk in your view, but they *did* approve your app. Perhaps there are some differences between yours and Apple's that you haven't considered.

I'd be interested in their response, if of course you do decide to bring it to their attention. Alternatively, are you in a position to consult a lawyer about this? Have you thought about it?

 

[QuarterSwede]

Although your talking about the camera, Apple has had a feature similar in the iPod app since at least iOS 4.3 (now recently discovered). From Now Playing you can swipe right to go back to the previous page without having to tap the button.

 

[Ashlyn]

Have you communicated your concerns to Apple? I understand that might be a risk in your view, but they *did* approve your app. Perhaps there are some differences between yours and Apple's that you haven't considered.

I'd be interested in their response, if of course you do decide to bring it to their attention. Alternatively, are you in a position to consult a lawyer about this? Have you thought about it?

These points are good: communicating to Apple and consulting a lawyer. Not sure what result the first one will bring but the second one won't hurt.