As a result, where a
preferred embodiment of an invention has been tested and shown to work to the exclusion of other embodiments, disclosing this information in the patent appears to be critical.
In this type
of embodiment of the invention, Apple intends to configure the sensor and circuitry in such a manner that they would function no matter which position the earbud is in.
But the use of wording, such as «in
this embodiment of the invention» suggests that there has been no implementation of algorithms.
Vaguely, it would be worded like this: «One
embodiment of our invention can do X. Another embodiment can do Y.» Their patent is already granted, and has been recently granted in 2015.
The patent owner also noted that
its embodiment of the invention was «successful,» and accused the petitioner of copying the patented design, but did not argue that either fact was an objective indication of non-obviousness.
The document then details that
some embodiments of the invention allow the authentication system to detect a visual or temporal pattern of inputs.