If you are even mildly familiar with present day smartphones then you surely know what pinch to zoom is, this movement of the fingers becoming one of the most widely used multi-touch gestures since it was first introduced by Apple in its iPhone line more then three years ago, the Cupertino company just managing to get a limited US patent for this functionality.

First of all let me say that I have grown really tired of all these patent battles especially when they concern things that shouldn't be patented in the first place, the pinch to zoom gesture being a prime example of a really simple concept that should be free to use in the first place.

But let's move back to the matter at hand, (as I don't want to start a whole patent argument over here) since this could become big news for a large number of manufacturers out there.

The patent, the was submitted by Apple in December 29th, 2006 (just a few days before the original iPhone was launched), covers a wide array of multi-touch gestures besides pinch to zoom such as rotating or orientating a image a certain way using a multitouch display, enabling Apple to start a legal battle with a wide range of manufacturers that use such interfaces in their devices.

Unfortunately for Apple, there is a catch, since this patent only covers gestures that require the user to perform a second pinch to zoom within a preset timeframe, somewhat limiting Apple's patent ammunition.

Whatever it may be the case, one thing is certain, we are going to see quite a few legal battles in the not so distant future so care to bet who will become Apple's first victim? (via ipodnn)