Patently Apple

Apple Sued over iOS Developer Program

A Delaware Company by the name of Cathas Advanced Technologies has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple alleging that the company's iOS Developer Program infringes on two claims of their patent titled "Web-Based Design Software for Keep-Alive Boards." The plaintiff is seeking a "reasonable royalty.  

Apple Invents New Fault Monitoring Battery & More

On May 31, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple revealing a new fault monitoring battery system. Apple states that the fault-monitoring mechanism will generate an alert and/or disable use of a portable electronic device containing the battery pack. For example, the fault-monitoring mechanism may indicate the fault through a visual alert (e.g., color-changing mechanism) or an audible alarm. Additionally, our report briefly touches on Apple's Audio Jack Assemblies patent and concludes with a simple question: Is Apple Changing Gears?  

Apple Wins Camera & Wide Array of Design Patents

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-seven newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our second report of the day we cover a wide array of design wins for Apple covering such things as Apple TV and a possible new icon. In addition, we cover two iOS related camera patents covering exposure and electro-mechanical shutter control.  

Apple Wins Major iPod User Interface & Systems Patents

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-seven newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. While this morning's patent report covers seventeen patents in total, our main focus is placed on Apple winning two major iPod patents covering the user interface and the systems behind their media player. Steve Jobs is noted as one of the inventors of the iPod user interface patent which covers a hierarchically ordered graphical user interface including its "home" UI. Will Apple Legal use these fresh new patents to further protect their iDevices? Time will tell.  

Apple Sued for iCloud & iTunes Services with Symantec Patents

A Delaware based company by the name of STEC IP has launched a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple on Seven counts. The main focus of the infringement case surrounds Apple's iCloud and iTunes related services. The exception is one count that that claims that VPN Tunnels found in Apple's OS X Lion Server violates their patents. Notable in this case is the fact that five out of the seven patents presented in this case were originally granted to Symantec. In a way, the question really becomes, who's really suing Apple?  

Apple's Minor Inventions Cover Retail Packaging, Earphone Refinements and an Alternative iPhone Design?

Beyond the major patent applications that we covered earlier today, there are a few minor patent applications worth noting. The first one covers a new iOS device earphone speaker system for enlarging the effective volume of a speaker using a unique blend of gas and air. The second one covers new and improved Apple Store retail packaging. In a third patent application, Apple reveals that they could be adding a "radiation absorber" to a future iPhone. According to Apple, "By virtue of its radiation absorption characteristics … the absorber may help prevent stray radiation from the emitter that may have been internally reflected." Well, well, isn't that nice to know? And one last thing: one of Apple's engineers who worked on the last patent, briefly points to alternative iPhone design features that are basically passé to begin with. The question becomes, why were these features even being discussed in the first place?  

Apple Introduces us to Patent Pending Safari 3D

Patently Apple has been following Apple's patent applications over the years regarding future interfaces and three dimensional visions, and today we present you with a series of patent applications from Apple regarding Safari 3D. The 3D version of Safari will allow users to stack bookmarks, emails, docs and apps in a very interesting 3D manner. While we're definitely a few years away from shifting to 3D, it's still interesting to read up on the evolutionary thinking behind this shift from the minds of Apple's engineers.  

Apple Points to Writing on Future iPad with Optical iPen

On May 24, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published two major patent applications from Apple relating to a future iPen. In our first report published this morning titled "Apple Sheds More Light on their iPen & Graphics Program," we covered Apple's push into specialized haptics for a future iPen. In our second report, we focus on Apple's consideration of using an optical based iPen. The unique angle taken by Apple's optical pen is a fascinating approach to determine a pen's location on a tablet surface. One of the secrets utilized in this approach uses invisible indicia.  

Apple Sheds More Light on their iPen & Graphics Program

On May 24, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that sheds more light on their future iPen and related graphics program. Apple continues to spend time and R&D funding on a future iPen device that's being designed to work with all of Apple's tablet-styled iDevices. The focus found in today's invention is twofold. Firstly, Apple is thinking of adding advanced haptics to the iPen so that the end user will be able to feel brush strokes and/or line thicknesses for example. Secondly, Apple is designing the iPen with a built-in mini speaker so as to provide users with various forms of audio feedback. To make all of this interesting and relevant, Apple sheds a little light on how their iPen will work with either a new graphics/paint program of their  own and/or with known apps such as Autodesk and Microsoft's Paint.  

Apple Wins 23 Patents While New Hand Gesturing Peripheral is revealed for Macs within the Year

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 23 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today that mainly covered utility patents. The exceptions were granted patents for GarageBand and Aperture. What steals the limelight today is a new hand gesturing system peripheral set to attack the Mac Market within the next eight months. You'll be able to zoom into maps, enter a signature, play shooter games and play in 3D spaces in ways more natural than Apple's Magic Trackpad. And lastly, we present you with a phenomenal photo of Steve Jobs by one of the great photographers of our generation: Norman Seeff.  

Fujitsu Develops "Driview" iPhone App for Car Navigation System

Japan's Nikkei Business Publications reported last week that Fujitsu Ten Ltd has developed a software application called "Driview" that displays video being taken by the camera of an iPhone onto the screen of two new Fujitsu car navigation systems due out this summer in Asia. The navigation systems superimpose icons on the video to navigate the driver to their destination.  

Apple Reveals "Tap to Focus" Camera Feature Advancements

On Thursday, US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that revealed that future iDevices may in fact sport an advanced version of their current iOS feature known as "Tap to Focus." According to the patent application, Apple could add an additional dedicated processor to their architecture supporting the newly advanced multi-point gesturing. The feature will add other new functionality such expanding a given area of a photo for added emphasis. For the camera buffs amongst us, I think this may be a very cool feature in a future iPhone model.