The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of four newly granted design patents for Apple Inc. today. Three out of the four designs cover the iPad. More specifically, two of the iPad designs cover Apple's new iPad mini which was only introduced on October 23, 2012. So it's great to see that USPTO is getting faster at granting designs as they're still relevant. The other designs cover Apple's virtual keyboard on an iPad and a particular iOS user interface. Two of the iPad related designs credited Apple's Co-Founder and late CEO Steve Jobs.
Considering that most of today's computer and mobile device parts are made in China, it comes as no surprise that Apple is quick to file design patents for their computer parts in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Today we learn that China's Hong Kong IP Office has granted Apple ten design patents covering components such as the Retina iPad display, the MacBook Pro's cooling fan and much more.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of four design patents for Apple today covering their iPod nano (seventh generation), the iPod Touch (fifth generation), their new EarPods and iPod nano Lanyard called "The Loop." While it's rare to see design patents get fast tracked as these have today, it's a trend that should continue being that we're in an era of quick design turnovers.
This afternoon the IP Office in Hong Kong China granted Apple two design patents regarding a "Power Connector Module" under numbers 1202395.2M001 and .2M002. Our report presents you with several jumbo graphics pertaining to the Power Connector along with a trademark filing for the fusion drive icon. UPDATE April 22, 2013: Apple's Fusion Drive logo Trademark application has also been published by the US Patent and Trademark Office today.
With the i5s Knock-off of the iPhone 5 from China's Goophone being so openly promoted, you know that every design patent that Apple can obtain from China's various Patent Offices will assist their efforts in bringing such companies to court. Today, the Patent Office in Hong Kong has granted Apple six new MacBook Pro design patents. In total, the patents cover a whopping 46 images including line drawings and photographs of every imaginable angle and size of the MacBook Pro. Apple's designs also extend to highlighting the MacBook's hinge and heat-vent systems.
In March 2010 Apple acquired the "iPad" Trademark from Fujitsu and that secured the trade name in the US. Apple lists it as registered trademark here. The iPad trademark wasn't secured in China until Apple settled in court in November 2012. So with Apple now owning the "iPad" trademark in China and the US, why is USPTO's Examining Attorney Lee-Anne Berns now refusing Apple's "iPad mini" trademark application? One given reason is that identities such as IP Application Development and Marc Angell have applied for the "iPad" trademark in 2010 under applications 77923051 and 77913563 respectively and therefore there's a "likelihood of confusion between these marks." Why would there be any confusion when Apple owns the iPad trademark and the associated product just happens to be the bestselling tablet computer on the planet? Secondly, Apple commonly provides USPTO with their appropriate product website pages as a specimen. It's never been refused until now. This aggressive examiner is claiming that the specimen for the "iPad Mini" shown here, isn't valid. Our report presents you with the full UPSTO accounting for the refusal of the iPad mini trademark so that you can view and judge it for yourself.
On March 27, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office approved and published Apple's latest registered trademark for the icon related to the iOS version of iPhoto under registration number 4,309,109. Apple's version of iPhoto for iOS (iPhone and iPad) was introduced alongside the debut of the third-generation iPad in March 2012.
On March 25, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published seven of Apple's latest trademark filings covering the round app icons for their seventh generation iPod nano. The designs that differ from those displayed on Apple's iPhone and iPad were originally filed last week and revealed today. Our report provides you with the entire set of color app icon graphics along with their respective International Class specifics.
On March 20, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office approved and published Apple's latest registered trademark for "iAd" under registration number 4,305,923. Apple originally filed their trademark application 21 months ago on June 21, 2011. Apple's iAd was created after their acquisition of Quattro Wireless in March 2010 and officially announced as a new service during Apple's WWDC in June 2010. For more information, visit Apple's iAd website.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of ten Apple design patents today covering the iPad, iPhone, an iDevice component, the iPad's battery and more.
On March 8, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple's latest registered trademarks for "AuthenTec" and "KeepSafe." Apple acquired AuthenTec in July 2012 and is likely to use their fingerprint technology for iDevice security and/or e-Commerce in the future. AuthenTec's website segment for Identify Management is now closed stating that "products are no longer available." This is a likely telltale sign that Apple wants to keep this technology for their future products.
On March 7, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office approved and published Apple's latest registered trademark for "WebKit" under registration number 4,296,939. Apple open-sourced WebKit in 2005 and is now the foundation for browsers found in Amazon's Kindle, RIM's new Z10, Google's Android and will be adopted by Samsung for their future Tizen OS. It was also reported last month that the next generation of Mobile Browser from Opera will be based on WebKit.
