{
  "patent_number": "US 7812826",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Multi-Touch Gestures Like Pinch-to-Zoom Work on Smartphones",
  "original_title": "Portable electronic device with multi-touch input",
  "summary": "Apple's patent on using two-finger gestures to manipulate images and objects on a touchscreen, allowing for smooth zooming and rotation even if you lift your fingers briefly.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes how a device tracks two or more fingers on a touchscreen to change a digital object. When you move your fingers apart or together, the device detects this motion and adjusts a parameter, such as the zoom level or orientation of an image. A key feature is the ability to lift your fingers and place them back down within a short time window to continue the same adjustment without the action resetting. It also includes a clever trick where the image resolution is lowered while you are actively moving it to keep the animation smooth, then sharpened once you stop.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover single-finger gestures like simple scrolling or tapping.",
    "Does not cover gestures that do not involve at least two distinct points of contact.",
    "Does not cover hardware sensors that are not multi-touch sensitive.",
    "Does not cover non-graphical operations that do not involve adjusting a parameter of an object."
  ],
  "filed": "2006-12-29",
  "granted": "2010-10-12",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Apple Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/apple-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Scott Forstall",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/scott-forstall"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bas Ording",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/bas-ording"
    },
    {
      "name": "Imran Chaudhri",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/imran-chaudhri"
    },
    {
      "name": "Greg Christie",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/greg-christie"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stephen O. Lemay",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/stephen-o-lemay"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 163,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "software"
  ],
  "abstract": "A portable communication device with multi-touch input detects one or more multi-touch contacts and motions and performs one or more operations on an object based on the one or more multi-touch contacts and/or motions. The object has a resolution that is less than a pre-determined threshold when the operation is performed on the object, and the object has a resolution that is greater than the pre-determined threshold at other times.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7812826/iphone-software-keyboard",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7812826/iphone-software-keyboard/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US7812826",
  "relatedPatents": []
}