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A lot of fuss has been made over a patent that was approved this week for Apple regarding multi-touch and gestures which definitely gives additional weight to the comments that Apple made last week.  I understand that Apple wants to protect itself and it’s products from being infringed upon but it would be a real shame if it hurt consumers in the long run.  This is a case that is bound to end up in court whether it is with Palm or another competitor due to touchscreen devices coming out an ever increasing pace.

The worst part about patents like this is that they allow the holder to take action against manufactures for products released prior to the patent release. With how fast technology changes maybe its time for the patent office to speed up their process (more than 2 years to get Apples patent approved).  Things like this can damage a company very heavily when they have poured everything into a product only to be forced to abandon it.  While in many cases companies are being malicious and stealing technology this is not always the situation.

I am sure there are many reasons for the patent office to be slow about this.  They have to cross ever T and dot every i but at what point do they say “We need to get this done faster”?  I am sure that much of it comes down to typical bureaucracy but sometimes things just have to be faster.  I wonder how long it took for them to get patents approved in their first years of operation?

I profess my ignorance when it comes to Patent office procedures but I do think that something needs to be changed to make the process more efficient.

Check It Out> Patent Office, Apple Insider (excellent breakdown of the patent)