>Tap to zoom, pinch to zoom, bounce back, rounded rectangles with glass etc. are obvious features people expect in a touchscreen device that is manipulated using fingers.
These are obvious features now. They weren't obvious in 2007 when the iPhone was released. Apple basically dictated the language of the consumer smartphone when it released the iPhone in 2007.
By they have "patents," so what should Universities do, should Universities spend all their time and resources patenting every little idea they come up with just in case some company decides to come along and copy them? Or maybe, just maybe, patent law juries should be required to actually properly review prior art, as the jurists in this case have admitted to ignoring?*
That should not give them exclusive rights to making what can be called a smart phone in 2012. Also both pinch to zoom and rounded rects have a solid prior art.
They're obvious features now because we can actually use two objects (our fingers) to interact with the screen at once. Pinch to zoom wasn't at all obvious when everything only could be touched once (PDA's) or not touched at all.
It seems only obvious to pinch to zoom something, but we could not have done that until a full touch interface.
These are obvious features now. They weren't obvious in 2007 when the iPhone was released. Apple basically dictated the language of the consumer smartphone when it released the iPhone in 2007.