Re:A US judge rules Samsung 'infringed' Apple's auto-complet...
by podperson on Wednesday January 22, 2014 @12:05PM
(#7103859)
The physical keyboard refers to claim 2, basically implying that the system for responding to suggestions (with gestures) applies whether the initial typing was done on the glass or virtual keyboard. So it's not making such a sweeping claim.
In any event, specific claims can be thrown out as appropriate.
But also rather ambitiously includes the use of autocomplete using a physical keyboard.
> 7. The method of claim 2, wherein the keyboard is a physical keyboard that is not a part of the touch screen display.
Which appears to describe a nearly identical system to the one used on www.google.com and in many other places; also for which examples of prior usage almost certainly exist. At first glance, I don't see anything that would prevent this patent from being asserted against a laptop manufacturer.