A freshly leaked patent filing has indicated that Samsung has been open to the idea of 3D Touch technology for its smartphones as early as the second quarter of 2014.

The patent application, which was recently publicized by the Korean Intellectual Property Office, was registered on April 2014. It spoke of different software outcomes depending on the pressure exerted onto the screen, Galaxy Club reported via GSM Arena.

Pressure is measured through corresponding voltages. If a user gently taps a letter on the software keyboard, a lowercase of the particular letter will pop up. Consequently, pressing harder will enable its uppercase to appear. You can access the illustration here.

Another use of the technology has a key being acting as a space bar when pressed gently and then the Tab button when tapped more forcefully, as seen here. There was also a mention of the 3D touch being an integral part of copying and pasting texts, images and other files.

The relatively new mobile technology has since been featured on Apple's iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. A similar capability known as Force Touch is also present in some of the company's latest MacBooks.

There are also rumors suggesting Synaptics, a renowned touch-display interface developer, is currently working on embedding the feature on Android devices, with the Galaxy S7 being highly touted as the smartphone that will inaugurate 3D Touch for Android.

Considering the fact it has been a year and a half since the patent was filed, Samsung could very well be way past the planning stages and might actually be testing its own 3D Touch technology as we speak. If so, the company has ample time to iron out the feature in time for the Galaxy S7's rumored February 2016 launch date.

Speaking of the Galaxy S7, it was reported that the upcoming Samsung flagship will launch in three different processor models.

SamMobile pointed out that one variant will sport Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 while the other two will be equipped with Samsung's very own Exynos 8890 and Exynos 7422.

Drawing inspiration from LG, Samsung has decided to discontinue using the controversial Snapdragon 810 SoC in most of its high-end devices. It can be remembered that the chipset received backlash for overheating quickly, something Qualcomm needs to improve on with the Snapdragon 820.

The SD 820 variant of the Galaxy S7 will retail in the United States and China. The one with the Exynos 8890 on board will be available in South Korea, Japan and the European markets while the Exynos 7422 Galaxy S7 is said to be exclusive for the Indian market.

Only time will if these three variants will ultimately be fitted with Samsung's version of 3D Touch.