Apple-HTC settlement unsealed: No “cloned products,” no helping trolls

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 In advance of today’s Apple v. Samsung hearing, Samsung filed a key document it fought hard to acquire—Apple’s recent patent settlement with HTC.

The 143-page settlement [PDF] is heavily redacted, and no financial terms are revealed. Still, certain parts of the document are revelatory. The document outlines an arbitration process that Apple can initiate if it believes HTC has created a “Cloned Product” that apes Apple’s too closely. It gives specific examples of similarities that would be acceptable and others that would be verboten. “Pinch to zoom” is OK; “slide to unlock” is OK, but only if it looks different. As the agreement lays out (p. 33):

A specific graphical slider animation used in an APPLE Mobile Communication Device at the bottom of a display screen to implement a ‘slide to unlock’ feature could qualify as a Distinctive Apple User Experience; however a different animation (for example a bubble slider)…Read more at ArsTechnica