1. iPad Mini Aimed at Education Market

It's being reported today that Apple executives are planning to make a point of highlighting the iPad's educational capabilities at tomorrow's special event, according to a person with knowledge of the planning. Little wonder. Education spending on information technology, including hardware, was about $19.7 billion in the 2010-2011 time period, according to the Center for Digital Education.

Educators' bet on tablets mirrors a trend in the broader consumer-electronics market, where consumers are buying iPads instead of traditional personal computers. PC sales in K-12 fell 8 percent in the U.S. last quarter, the third straight decline, Gartner said.

"We're moving away from desktops and laptops," said James Ponce, the superintendent of the McAllen Independent School District in Texas. "Ninety percent of the work is now being done on mobile devices." For more information on this, check out Bloomberg's report.

2. Tokyo Court Rejects Samsung's Request for iPhone Injunction

Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported on Saturday that Samsung Electronics Co. had suffered a setback in its worldwide legal battle with Apple over alleged patent violations after a Tokyo court rejected its request for injunction to stop iPhone sales in Japan.

The patents in question involve the technology for downloading an app to add new functions to a smartphone and the so-called airplane mode, which suspends a phone's communications without turning off the power during flight.

Apple is appealing a Tokyo District Court decision handed down in August on separate patent claims against Samsung.

3. Apple Still in Pursuit of Thunderbolt Trademark. Then again, do they already own it?

A US Patent and Trademark Office document published this morning states that "The applicant, Apple Inc., requests a six-month extension of time to file the Statement of Use under 37 C.F.R. Section 2.89 in this application," in relationship to the Thunderbolt trademark as noted in our graphic. .

Interestingly, Bitlaw provides an overview of this sort of application which states that "The party filing the request for an extension of time to file a statement of use must be the owner of the mark at the time of filing 15 U.S.C. 1051(d)(2)." By this definition, Apple would actually be the owner of this trademark.

Check out our May 2011 report which covers the extensive filings for this trademark by Apple.

   Posted: 6:55 AM MST