Computer scientists come to Samsung’s aid in patent trial

Samsung didn’t infringe on Apple’s patents for quick links, universal search, slide-to-unlock, and autocorrect, several expert witnesses hired by the Korean giant testified Tuesday. Kevin Jeffay, professor of computer science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said that Apple’s ‘647 quick-links patent is more limited than the company claims. The technology allows for the automatic detection of data that can be clicked, such as a phone number being sent to a dialer rather than having to memorize or copy and past the number. Apple’s patent involves the use of an “analyzer server” to perform the action. Samsung devices, however, don’t use an analyzer server for the browser and message, Jeffay said, and detecting and linking in Samsung devices are performed by the application itself. In addition, the Android Jelly Bean browser doesn’t enable selection of detected text, he said. “In my opinion, they do not infringe,” Jeffay said.