Apple sues HTC over 4 patents in new lawsuit

Every time software patents come up we have the same conversation here. Someone will look at the title, e.g. in this case "Unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image" and say <i>what!?</i>, how can that be patentable.<p>Then someone will come along and say, that bit of text is totally meaningless, it's the actual claims that count.<p>But fundamentally, how could anything under that heading no matter how tenuously connected or complex actually be worth a patent.<p>edit: link to patent <a href="http://www.google.com/patents?id=dUnKAAAAEBAJ" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/patents?id=dUnKAAAAEBAJ</a><p>Can someone give valid argument as to why that isn't total BS, cause I'm not seeing anything but standard phone unlock, now with a touchscreen.

Apple must prevent Android from becoming widespread as soon as they can. Once more phone makers adopt Android and start sharing enhancements, Apple will be unable to out-innovate and will be relegated to a niche.<p>Apple can, possibly, spend more money in R&#38;D than HTC, but it can't outcompete the whole industry.<p>HTC's move could be to convince telcos Apple's move hurts the whole industry (for AT&#38;T, an HTC is no different from an iPhone and they really don't care which one you use as long as you are a profitable client). You can try to picture Apple trying to sell unlocked iPhones with no subsidies and trying to compete with every HTC and Motorola and Dell and Samsung subsidized by every telco.

I should be proactive on this and patent unlocking a device using voice print or facial recognition

Counting down to when Palm (now HP) steps in and says, actually you both owe us licensing fees.

You would think HTC would have someone on staff just read through all of Apple's patents to try to avoid them.<p>The patent only covers the "slide to unlock" kind of deal and there's no reason HTC <i>had</i> to set it up that way,