Patently Apple

Apple Granted Smart Cover and Multi-Button Mouse Patents

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of twenty-nine newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. This particular report covers two of Apple's granted patents relating to their Smart Cover and a possible future multi-button mouse. To close out our report we cover Apple's trademark filing for their new iPhoto logo that's specific to iOS.

Taiwan Official Urges Support for HTC over Apple & Samsung

On Friday, Taiwan's Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang urged the public to show more support for HTC Corp., a Taiwanese smartphone maker. The Minister stated that the "Public should cherish our own brand." The remarks came after HTC released their revenue report amid fierce competition from Apple and Samsung. The Taiwanese government is now working on providing a better environment and offering assistance to Taiwan's smartphone makers, including integrating industry supply chains, launching an application processor development project and more, according to the Minister. In October of 2011, the Premier of Taiwan took a swipe at Apple due to their patent victory for slide and lock. Considering the tremendous amount of business that Apple is giving to Taiwan's Hon Hai (Foxconn), is it right for their Government to be playing up nationalistic sentiments against Apple? Is it right to be championing HTC over Hon Hai when Apple and HTC are still battling it out in court? You don't hear the Canadian Government whining to their citizenry that they should be supporting their cherished RIM over their US competitors Apple and Google, do you? I don't know, maybe it's just me – but I think that Taiwan's mouthy government should be a little more grateful for the business that North American companies are giving them instead of whining in public to stir up nationalism. It's a bad idea and worst yet, bad policy. What are your thoughts on this?   

China's 'Kidney for an iPad' Trial Begins

According to a BBC report published this morning, five people have gone on trial in China for illegal organ trading and intentional injury after a student sold his kidney to buy an iPad and iPhone. The defendants include the surgeon who removed the kidney from the 17-year-old in the central province of Hunan. They face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. The teenager, who suffered renal failure after the transplant, was said to be too sick to attend the hearing. Official figures from the health ministry show that about 1.5 million people need transplants, but only 10,000 are performed annually. In October 2010, Steve Jobs joined California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in signing legislation to establish the U.S.’s first nationwide kidney donor registry.

Patent Trolls have the Smartphone Industry in a State of Emergency

According to a study from the Boston University School of Law, patent litigation caused by "non-practicing entities" (NPEs), better known as "patent trolls," cost U.S. software and hardware companies US$29 billion in 2011. NPEs are individuals and firms that own patents but do not directly use their patented technology to produce goods or services and instead assert their patent rights against companies that do. Patent litigation costs to technology companies from NPE lawsuits have dramatically risen from $6.7 billion in 2005 to $12.6 billion in 2008 and more than $29.2 billion in 2011. The report goes on to state that "The rapid growth and high cost of NPE litigation documented here should set off an alarm warning to policy makers…" Well, it certainly has in Korea. A new report published today indicates that the domestic smartphone industry has indeed pressed the panic button to set off the alarm regarding the damage that patent trolls are exacting on their industry.

Will Apple Consider ARM's New Mali GPU in 2013?

To date, Apple has been using Imagination Technologies GPU for iDevices, but that could all change in 2013 if ARM's new Mali GPU delivers on its promises of delivering greater power and a revolutionary new data compression technology called ASTC (Adaptive Scalable Texture Compression). Steve Steele, product manager of ARM's media processing division stated that "From the consumer's point of view it's going to mean better battery life and higher image quality." He went on to state that you'll "be able to download games faster, and it's also been designed to be more efficient at uncompressing data once it's on your device." Yet as tempting as it may be for Apple to make the switch, one has to remember that Apple is still a shareholder in Imagination Technologies that currently develops the PowerVR GPU that's powering today's iPad. Logic says that Apple will pass on this next generation GPU from ARM, but technology in the fast lane could sometimes throw in a surprise of two along the way – and so it's not a sure thing until it is. Only time will tell.

Select 2013 Ultrabooks to Incorporate Intel's Wireless Charging

According to a new Asian report that was published this morning, Intel will be testing out a new wireless charging technology that they developed for their 2H 2013 Ultrabook and smartphone architectures. Intel's wireless charging solution uses an Ultrabook as the power source paired with related software and a transmitter to wirelessly charge a smartphone. According to Intel's data, the solution will feature lower power consumption and does not require the phone to be put in a very specific position. Sources state that the new technology may only appear in a few models initially. It's unknown at this time if Apple will work with Intel to bring this technology to MacBooks and the iPhone in the future. To date, Apple patents have shown that they've toyed with their own Inductive charging technologies over the years and even have two granted patents on this front (see one and two). A final solution has yet to emerge. 

Apple Interestingly Updates Head Tracking Patent & More

On August 09, 2012, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals that they're still tinkering with their 2012 granted patent relating to head tracking which was originally published in 2009. Apple has added more strength to their patent claims relating to "methods" while dramatically reducing their patent claims relating to "systems." If anything, it shows that Apple is still actively refining their technology which is part of a larger project relating to a future 3D GUI for the desktop and portables. This is a timely revelation considering that a new patent from RIM illustrates their desire to bring a 3D UI to their future lineup of BlackBerry devices. Yes, the race is on to bring 3D head tracking user interfaces to market and it'll be interesting to see if Apple will decide to lead or follow on this front.

Apple's iPhone losing the Battle in Europe to Samsung

According to a new study from Taipei China, Apple only accounts for 14.4% market share in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain while Samsung's market share has grown to 45% in these same markets. This pushes Android's market share to a leading 65%. The study states that this is due to the fact that Apple haven't been working closely with Europe-based telecommunication firms. Apple's CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that sales in Europe were flat during their last conference call. Apple and Samsung are currently in a court battle that some have dubbed the patent trial of the century. The stakes are very high for both companies. While Apple's iPhone is currently losing the battle in Europe to Samsung, the tide could very easily turn if Apple's next generation iPhone hits a homerun with exciting new features. The new iPhone is due out next month.

Apple's iPad Takes Over 70% of China's Tablet PC Sales

While some of China's market analysts have speculated that Apple could experience a decrease in iPad 3 sales in this current quarter, researcher Analysys International out of Beijing is claiming that Apple's iPad's market share in China's tablet PC sector climbed to over 72.6 percent in the second quarter of 2012. The figure marked a 20.06-percent increase from the first quarter of 2012, said the report. Meanwhile, Samsung's tablet PC saw a 7.69-percent year-on-year decrease in its market share, which stood at 3.59 percent in the second quarter of 2012.

Apple Chalks Up another 38 Granted Patents

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 38 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. Earlier today we posted three reports respectively titled Apple Wins Patent for Never Released Lifestyle Companion App, Smack! Apple Granted another Classic Touch & Gesture Patent and Apple is Granted an iWallet Related Patent for Shopping. In our last report of the day we briefly cover Apple's patents relating to dynamic compass calibration for iDevices, touch screen settings for camera adjustments and present you with more than a dozen utility patents.

Apple is Granted an iWallet Related Patent for Shopping

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a newly granted patent for Apple Inc. today that relates to their future iWallet in respect to shopping and shopping lists. Apple's published patents relating to their future iWallet began to roll out in 2010. At this year's World Wide Developer Conference, Scott Forstall, Apple's Senior VP of iPhone Software, revealed Passbook which was basically a sneak peek at an iWallet component. Apple's recent acquisition of AuthenTec falls into line with their iWallet project, as Apple had published an earlier patent covering a future iPhone with fingerprint scanning capabilities. Apple had previously acquired another fingerprint scanning patent back in 2010 which further strengthens this project. At this very moment nobody knows when Apple will officially launch their full iWallet application, but logic strongly suggests that it could be in the 2013/2014 timeline.

Smack! Apple Granted another Classic Touch & Gesture Patent

When I first began covering Apple's patents, this one was one of the first to really excite the Mac Community, even though the negative naysayers were pounding the table saying that Apple would never, ever again touch a tablet after the failed Newton. Well, we all know how wrong they were, again. Today, Apple has been granted yet another classic touch and gesture patent to add to their already impressive roster of key touch related patents. Apple has smacked another touch related patent out of the park and delivered more grief for their copycat competitors. Apple's patent covers their classic pinch and zoom feature along with and a number of virtual controls such as a scroll wheel, floating controls, page-turns for eBooks and more.