The Innovation

This patent application concerns methods for managing concurrently open applications on a multifunction device, such as a smartphone, with a touch-sensitive display and a gesture-based graphical user interface. The primary aim of the method is to enable users to switch between concurrently open applications, which may include active, background, suspended, or hibernated applications. The process begins with the display of a home screen user interface, following which a first application view is shown in response to a detected selection of a first application icon. The method allows switching between applications without displaying multiple application views simultaneously, thereby creating a more efficient human-machine interface and reducing power consumption​​.

Technical Contribution

The board evaluated the technical contribution of various features of the claim. Feature (i), which allows the user to switch from one open application to another without returning to the home screen, was considered to contribute to the technical character of the method. It provides a more efficient interaction mechanism for application switching, thereby solving a technical problem over D1​​.

However, features (iia) and (iib), which relate to the presentation of information on the screen (such as maintaining a portion of the first application view and sliding off a portion of it), were not deemed to contribute to the technical character. The board reasoned that these features did not directly affect the interaction mechanism for switching between applications, nor did they reduce the number of user interactions required for this purpose. Despite suggestions in the description about reducing cognitive burden and providing context, these were not considered technical effects within the scope of claim 1​​.

Feature (iii) was also recognized as contributing to the technical character. This feature, which involves the scrolling of open application icons in response to a detected scroll gesture in a predefined area, addresses the technical problem of displaying multiple open application icons efficiently when screen space is limited​​.

Key Findings

• Feature (i): switching between applications without returning to the home screen – technical
• Feature (iia): maintaining a portion of the first application view on the screen – non-technical
• Feature (iib): sliding off a portion of the first application view – non-technical
• Feature (iii): scrolling of open application icons in a predefined area – technical

Read the full decision here: T 1559/19 (Concurrently open applications/APPLE) 14-11-2023 | Epo.org​​.