T 1046/14 - Dragging icons on touch screen

Key point

• In this somewhat older decision (26.11.2018), the Board finds claim 1 to be inventive. The claim is directed to "a method of displaying an icon attributed to an executable function in a terminal having a touchscreen".
• " D1 discloses control means for manipulating an object displayed on a touch screen." 
• "  the appellant has convincingly argued that the objects in D1 are not icons in the sense of claims 1 and 8. " 
• " an icon in D1 [is] a symbolic representation of a computer function which is used for manipulating an object. Furthermore, the entire teaching and the different manipulations described in document D1 solely relate to an object, never to the icon. An object is described as having an "object type", specifying the shape and physical properties of the object (see column 8, lines 21 to 25: "weight", "hardness", "frictional resistance", "center of gravity")." 
• " the objective technical problem may indeed be formulated, as argued by the appellant, as how to improve the system so that an icon of D1 associated with an executable function, not an object, can be moved on the touchscreen while at the same time preventing unintentional displacement of the icon.
• The skilled person will not find in D1 any hint at the possible manipulation of an icon. They would not consider applying the mechanisms for moving objects on the touchscreen to moving the icons, since there are fundamental differences between an icon and an object, such as the above-mentioned types and physical properties (e.g. gravity, friction). " 

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EPO T 1046/14 -  link

VI. Claim 1 according to the main request reads as follows:

"A method of displaying an icon attributed to an executable function in a terminal having a touchscreen (140), the method including:
- displaying the icon (141) and fixing the icon to a first position on the touchscreen such that the icon can not be moved away from the first position by a touch-and-drag action;
characterized by:
- if the icon is touched for a predetermined time, releasing (S27) the position fixation of the icon such that the whole icon can be moved away from the first position to a second position by a touch-and-drag action; and
- displaying a first indication to visually inform a user that the position fixation of the icon is released, wherein the displayed first indication includes at least one of a graphical indication, an animation, and a text message,
wherein the fixed icon is available to a user before the fixed icon is released."

3. Main request - inventive step

3.1 Prior art D1

D1 discloses control means for manipulating an object displayed on a touch screen.
[...]
 D1 thus discloses a manipulation of an object which is similar, in terms of the movement and display of images on the screen, to the touch-and-drag and fixing actions described in the application.

However, the appellant has convincingly argued that the objects in D1 are not icons in the sense of claims 1 and 8. In that respect, the appellant pointed to the only passage and figure in D1 mentioning an icon (column 1, lines 47 to 56 and Figure 1), which clearly show that object and icon are different entities, an icon in D1 being a symbolic representation of a computer function which is used for manipulating an object. Furthermore, the entire teaching and the different manipulations described in document D1 solely relate to an object, never to the icon.

[...]

As a result of this difference, in D1, preventing the activation of a function during the manipulations disclosed in D1 is not an issue since only the objects are manipulated and an object is not associated with an executable function. As a consequence, fixation of an object's position and releasing that fixation are not necessary, and are also not disclosed in D1. An object can be moved in D1 by a touch-and-drag action without having to first be touched for a predetermined time to be released, as defined for an icon in claim 1.

Based on these differences between D1 and the subject-matter of claim 1, the objective technical problem may indeed be formulated, as argued by the appellant, as how to improve the system so that an icon of D1 associated with an executable function, not an object, can be moved on the touchscreen while at the same time preventing unintentional displacement of the icon.

The skilled person will not find in D1 any hint at the possible manipulation of an icon. They would not consider applying the mechanisms for moving objects on the touchscreen to moving the icons, since there are fundamental differences between an icon and an object, such as the above-mentioned types and physical properties (e.g. gravity, friction). Even if the skilled person were implementing the described push manipulation for an icon, this would first result in the involuntary execution of the associated function as soon as the icon is touched.

The appellant has further plausibly argued that the advantages of the claimed solution, vis-à-vis the solution of document D1, include the implementation of a position fixation mechanism together with a simple and easy touch action to release the position fixation such that the position fixation prevents the user from moving the icon by touching and dragging the icon away unintentionally, while still allowing the user to easily move the icon to a desired position where they can easily find it again whenever they want to use it. The indication provided to indicate the release state further enhances the convenience of the system, by providing unequivocal feedback to the user about the state the icon is in.

Thus, the skilled person, starting from D1, could not arrive at a solution according to claim 1 without the exercise of inventive skill.

3.3 For these reasons the board judges that the subject-matter of claim 1 involves an inventive step, having regard to the prior art on file (Article 56 EPC).