HTC wins swipe to unlock patent dispute against Apple
> The judge said that HTC's "arc unlock" feature - which also involves a predefined gesture along a path shown on-screen - would have infringed Apple's technology had it not been for a device released in 2004.<p>No, no, no. It is <i></i>clearly obvious<i></i>, the fact that there happens to also be prior art just adds insult to injury. If there had not been prior art, it would <i></i>still<i></i> be a frivolous, trivial patent.<p>This is exactly what's wrong with the patent system - you don't need prior art to tell you something is obvious and should be unpatentable.