On October 23, 2014, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an extension of their originally granted iTime patent which we covered back in July of this year. Apple's second filing for their watch now emphasizes hand and arm gesturing in their patent claims to shore up that part of their invention that will apply to future versions of Apple Watch. One of the key patent claims protects Apple's use of gestures in relation to "notifications." In-part, this covers one aspect of the first version of Apple Watch due in early 2015. Though in the future, the use of arm and/or wrist gestures could play an extended roll in Apple Watch functionality.

It's all about the Patent Claims Stupid

Although Apple's "Detailed Description" segment found in every patent is the more interesting aspect of any given invention for consumers, it's the patent claims that legally protects the technology that Apple invents.



Sometimes, like in this case, even though Apple now has the basic ideas behind this patent laid out in their granted patent, they now go back to emphasize the elements that they seek to further protect. It's the patent claims that are used to launch patent infringement lawsuits. So when Apple adds new protections in their claims, one should pay attention.

In Apple's granted patent their mention of "gestures" for their future Apple Watch is only found in patent claim number 14 as follows:

14. An electronic wristband as recited in claim 7, wherein the at least one electrical component includes a sensor and the second set of functions further includes determining the user input based at least in part on monitoring the sensor to detect an arm or wrist gesture.

In today's Apple's patent application published by USPTO we find that "gestures" are now amplified in seven patent claims numbered 1,5,6,7,9,10 and 12 as presented below:

Claim #1. A method implemented in an electronic wristband wearable on a wrist of a user, the method comprising: receiving, at the electronic wristband, a notification request; generating, by the electronic wristband, a user notification responsive to the notification request; detecting, by the electronic wristband, an arm or wrist gesture performed by the user; and interpreting the arm or wrist gesture as a user input responsive to the user notification.

Claim #5. The method of claim 1 wherein the notification request indicates an incoming phone call and interpreting the arm or wrist gesture includes: determining whether the arm or wrist gesture corresponds to a first gesture or a second gesture; interpreting the arm or wrist gesture as an instruction to accept the call in the event that the arm or wrist gesture corresponds to the first gesture; and interpreting the arm or wrist gesture as an instruction to decline the call in the event that the arm or wrist gesture corresponds to the second gesture.

Claim #6. The method of claim 5 wherein one of the first gesture and the second gesture comprises a horizontal movement of the user's arm or wrist and the other of the first gesture and the second gesture comprises a vertical movement of the user's arm or wrist.

Claim #7. The method of claim 5 wherein one of the first gesture and the second gesture comprises a single shake of the user's arm or wrist and the other of the first gesture and the second gesture comprises a pair of shakes of the user's arm or wrist.

Claim #9. The method of claim 1 wherein: detecting the arm or wrist gesture includes determining a direction of motion of the user's arm or wrist; and interpreting the arm or wrist gesture includes interpreting the arm or wrist gesture as a different user input depending on the direction of motion.

Claim #10. The method of claim 1 wherein: detecting the arm or wrist gesture includes determining a number of repetitions of a motion of the user's arm or wrist; and interpreting the arm or wrist gesture includes interpreting the arm or wrist gesture as a different user input depending on the number of repetitions.

Claim #12. An electronic wristband wearable on a wrist of a user, the electronic wristband comprising: a wireless communication transceiver to communicate with another electronic device; one or more user output components; a motion sensor; and a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless communication transceiver, the user output component, and the motion sensor, the processor being configured to: receive, via the wireless communication transceiver, a notification request from the other electronic device; generate, via at least one of the one or more user output components, a user notification responsive to the notification request; detect, based on a signal from the motion sensor, an arm or wrist gesture performed by the user; and interpret the arm or wrist gesture as a user input responsive to the user notification.





Apple's patent FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a personal wireless environment; FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of an electronic wristband.

How Notifications will be handled with Apple Watch





(Click on Image to Enlarge)

See Apple's granted iTime patent for more original details and additional supporting graphics. Note that this isn't a design patent, therefore the images don't have to reflect Apple's current Apple Watch as the emphasis is on the technology behind Apple Watch.



Patent Credits

Apple credits Albert Golko, Mathias Schmidt and Felix Alvarez as the inventors of application 20140313128 which was originally filed in July 2014. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such features to market is unknown at this time.

Note that Patently Apple has now opened an "Apple Watch" category Archive that will store all current and future Apple Watch patent reports.

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