[thomasrossi]

Well in EU some algorithm is surely patentable if it has a "technical effect", for instance if you can move a robot arms consuming less energy or producing less waste materials, it must have a physical impact on something. Quote: "the method didn’t reach a level of sophistication needed to award patent protection", just this, lol at patenting it in the first place.

[axman6]

I feel it would be easy for Apple to argue that is does have a physical effect - it makes it easier to access a locked phone than having to enter a pin, or one of the many other methods of unlocking electronic devices.

[thomasrossi]

It is not saving battery, it is not producing less waste.. so no, it has no physical effect. As an algorithm it cannot be patented in the EU, and code-wise in EU it's the only thing you can try to patent.

[axman6]

It's making life easier for the user... this is one of the primary things that patents are here for, inventions which make life easier. And it's certainly not what would be considered "an algorithm" by any patent office - it has user interaction, in involves hardware, it is clearly not just a mere algorithm.