Apple was awarded a patent Wednesday relating to touchscreens. The certification arrived more than three years after the company filed, and it set off mild concern among other touchscreen makers. The patent, U.S. No. 7966578, gives Apple control of "a computer-implemented method, for use in conjunction with a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display," according to the patent. The patent was originally filed in 2007, around the time the original iPhone was in development and touchscreens were not in wide use on other personal mobile devices.