HTC patents homescreen indicator

The Android multiple homescreen navigation indicator that we’ve come to know has been patented by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC. The indicator to show which screen you’re on (first seen on the HTC Hero and later implemented into Sense UI) has been implemented by Google themselves in later versions of Android, and used by other launchers as well (such as ADW Launcher and LauncherPro). It’s unclear why HTC patented the idea this late- after all, the Hero has been around for quite some time. Maybe they only just realized how useful their indicator was and decided to make it theirs. I wonder what will be the outcome of such a patent if it goes through; after all it’s already in use by other people at the moment.