I&#x27;d argue that multi-touch and pinch-to-zoom combined represents an innovation. Now, whether that should protected for 17-20 years is a completely different matter.<p>I&#x27;d be happiest with a world without software patents, but 12-18 months from filing might be a reasonable compromise position for software&#x2F;electronics patents. That is short enough that you might simply take the filings, assign each a number (do no review), immediately publish the claims, and then after the fact adjudicate any complaints that someone raises. (lazy evaluation for patents, basically)<p>IMO, that&#x27;s enough incentive to get us the iPhone, multi-touch, Bluetooth &#x2F; LE, NFC, etc, etc, without every startup being worried about a company-killing judgement hanging over their head.