Mind Fund Studio, a Hong Kong based software development company, has been granted a US patent for novel swipe gestures. The patent covers multi-select gestures used in Mind Fund Studio’s new task management app, Sorted.
Mind Fund Studio is not the first company to patent swipe gestures. In fact, many of the gestures that you use on your phone every day are patented. Ever unlocked your iPhone with a swipe? Apple owns this “slide to unlock” gesture, which they filed in 2009. But the trend started long before this when Xerox filed a patent for drawing letters of the alphabet using one penstroke per letter. Since then there have been a slew of patent filings from large tech companies, including Samsung’s patent for gestures used to move icons around on your phone and Microsoft’s filing of a patent that covers any set of personalised gestures you use to operate your Kinect.
However, it is relatively rare to see smaller companies register gesture patents. Leo Tumwattana, CTO of Mind Fund Studio, explains the rationale behind the company’s patent and how it came into being.
“It all started because I wanted a to-do app that allowed me to schedule times for my tasks. I tried lots of different products and just couldn’t find anything that I was satisfied with. Lots of apps allow you to create lists easily, but the UIs for scheduling tasks tend to rely on pop-up menus that are rigid. These pull the user out of the context of their schedule and other tasks.”
“In creating Sorted, we wanted an experience that is direct and lightening fast. We wanted users to be able to schedule tasks in the morning and to make it painless to update their plans during the day as things change… kind of like moving sticky notes around on a calendar. Our way of doing this is through our patented gestures.”
“The key gesture that we have created is multi-select. Using a swipe and drag, you can select multiple tasks and change all of their scheduled times at once. You can push them all an hour later, move them to another day or spread out their timings with a pinch.”
While building Sorted, Mind Fund Studio sought help from the Hong Kong government to attain a US patent. With support from the Patent Application Grant, the company was able to apply to the US patent office and was subsequently granted their patent. Mind Fund Studio says that their focus at the moment is on growing and improving their new app rather than looking for ways to monetise the patent from licensing. As Leo says:
“Our focus right now is on Sorted. The patent is certainly nice to have, and who knows where it might come in handy in the future!”
Mind Fund Studio is a software development agency based in Hong Kong. Sorted is the company’s latest in-house app and is available for download on the App Store.
