Interesting! This reminds me of the new Playstation Vita's rear touch sensor. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction of preserving screen estate for what its primary function should be.

Pro-tip: that's not a patent. It's a patent application.

But because that stupid site doesn't tell you the publication number, it's impossible to know (without doing some searching) what's happened in the meantime. Maybe it's issued as a patent, maybe it's still pending, maybe it's been abandoned. Also, no mention of the claims? Amateur hour.