Apple Awarded Touchstone iPhone Patent

Apple was granted a key patent covering many aspects of the iPhone interface as well as potentially other “multi-touch” handsets. CEO Steve Jobs was listed among the inventors in a 358-page filing awarded last week.

The patent covers the iPhone, gestures and the handset’s OS X operating software.

U.S. Patent No. 7479949 comes saber-rattling between Apple and other touch-screen handset makers. Last week, interim Apple CEO Tim Cook warned unnamed competitors that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company would protect its intellectual property.

Although not named, many saw Cook’s statement as a shot across the bow of Palm, which recently released the Pre, a touch-screen handset aimed at the iPhone. “If faced with legal action, we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves, a Palm spokeswoman responded.

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