Shortly after Apple introduced the iPhone 5, Samsung's propaganda PR machine went into high gear mocking the new phone and Apple fans in general. Samsung tried to make it like the iPhone 5 was for an older generation that was simply out of touch with technology. One particular ad mocked Apple's decision to reposition their headphone port to the bottom of the iPhone 5. Samsung may have jumped the gun on that point and it may come back to bite them in the next year of two. 

Time Magazine has published their top 10 tech industry predictions for 2013. Time safely predicts that Microsoft will enter the smartphone business in 2013, which is something that we covered back in November in a report titled Microsoft Considers Releasing a Surface Smartphone in 2013. They also predict that Google may create an upscale line of mobile devices via Motorola. That would basically translate to Google finally entering the hardware business directly to challenge Apple head-on. That would definitely cause sparks that could ignite round two of the patent wars. Yet at the end of the day, there were two predictions by Time relating to Apple. The first prediction sees Apple making a large investment in its supply chain. Their guesses include owning a key display manufacturer, owning hardware machining factories, and/or even investing or co-investing in a foundry to manufacture its own semiconductors for all of its computers. Their second prediction is a little more daring. Okay, a lot more daring.

Our last patent report for 2012 goes to a new patent application that was published by the US Patent office last week regarding an advanced "Active Stylus." Over the years, Apple has stated that they weren't interested in a 7" iPad and now it's going to be one of Apple's hottest selling products in 2013. Apple denied they had interest in a cellphone of their own and storing data in the sky, now the cloud, was quite humorous to Steve Jobs. Yes, Apple has said they weren't interested in certain products just to turn around and actually deliver them as the next great thing. The old boring dumb stick called the stylus is another one that Steve Jobs supposedly didn't like and at the time it made sense. Yet it's just a known fact that Apple's engineers have been working on "reinventing" the stylus for years now, contrary to their public stance. Even the idea that it was too easy to lose a stylus has been overcome with the advent of Apple's work with encoded magnets that's behind the iPad's Smart Cover product. Today, the stylus is more like a crayon than a pen. Samsung's Galaxy Note product with a stylus is a case in point. It just sucks as a pen. Apple's latest invention introduces the "active stylus" to overcome common stylus problems and names the iPhone and iPad by name as products that may be able to take advantage of the active stylus in the future. 

It's that time of year again when we list our top IP reports of the year based on reader popularity. The results are simply based on the sheer volume of hits received per report. In other words, these are the IP reports that the Mac Community voted in as the winners. Our report presents you with ten patents, two trademarks, one news report and an oddball that we just couldn't ignore. The reports are listed in random order. Did any of your favorites make the list this year? 

Reuters is reporting this afternoon that Apple has agreed to withdraw patent claims against a new Samsung phone with a high-end display after Samsung said it was not offering to sell the product in the crucial U.S. market. Apple disclosed the agreement in a filing on Friday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. Samsung's representative stated that it is not "making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing the Galaxy S III Mini in the United States." Based on that, Apple said it agreed to withdraw its patent claims on the Mini, "so long as the current withdrawal will not prejudice Apple's ability later to accuse the Galaxy S III Mini if the factual circumstances change." Apple had previously argued that the device infringed on the same patents included in its $1.5 billion verdict against Samsung.

On December 28, 2012, China's Patent & Trademark Office published two of Apple's latest registered trademarks for the iBooks Author Logo in both color and black and white as noted above. The logos are now protected until 2017. The timing of the registered trademarks couldn't have come at a better time considering that the US Patent and Trademark Office just suspended Apple's US trademark filing 85642785 on December 17, 2012. The reason for the suspension was insufficient proof of their foreign priority filing. China publishing the registered trademarks publically today should expedite Apple's application to final status shortly.

DigiTimes is reporting this morning that Apple has issued requests for quotations (RFQ) to Taiwan-based supply chain makers for the revision of several notebook models including MacBook Pro and MacBook Air series in June 2013, causing ultrabook vendors to be concerned, according to supply chain makers. But what struck me about this report is that they stated that "sources pointed out that the MacBook Air for 2013 will feature a new processor platform, but its industrial design will not see any major changes." They didn't just say processor, they stated new processor platform. In February, MacRumors reported that Apple seriously considered using AMD processors and just last month Bloomberg report that Apple was considering a switch to ARM processors for future Macs. Is there a big switch for Apple's MacBook Air lineup for the second half of 2013? Time will tell.  

According to BrightWire, a business-to-business resource for portfolio managers, Taiwan's United Daily News is reporting this morning that the demand for the iPad mini and iPhone 5 is so hot that Hon Hai Precision and circuit board supplier Flexium Interconnect have agreed to operate their plants and certain production lines during the Chinese New Year, shown on this calendar as taking place on February 10-13. In particular, the report noted that Flexium has brought in and trained a great number of students to fill the production lines. On Wednesday we reported that Apple's iPad mini is expected to catch up with demand in Q1 2013, and last Sunday we reported that Apple is to greatly expand iPad mini production in 2013. Do you get the feeling that the iPad mini once up to speed is going to be a killer product for Apple in 2013?  

In March of this year, a group of Chinese authors sued Apple for allegedly adding their books to the iTunes Store without authorization. In three separate lawsuits filed in Beijing No. 2 Intermediate court, 12 writers were claiming that 59 of their works were sold through iTunes without licenses. Today, a legal newspaper in Beijing is reporting that the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate court ruled that Apple should pay the original 8 writers who filed the lawsuit a total of $68,781 US in damages for its App Store's copyright infringement. Some reports were claiming that the writers were suing for 3.5 million US while others reported 1.6 million US. So while it was definitely a victory for the writers, the penalty handed down by the court was far from the compensation that they originally sought from Apple. 

According to BrightWire, a business-to-business resource for portfolio managers, there's a hot new rumor published by China Times this morning pertaining to Apple's future HDTV. According to the rumor, Hon Hai has a special iTV development team that has already produced components for the upcoming Apple HDTV which the report boldly targets for a mid-2013 debut when Apple  is to reveal the integration of its content platform. This rumor supports another one that surfaced last week that stated that Apple HDTV tests were underway at Hon Hai. Patently Apple will continue to report on these rumors even though we're a little skeptical. The question of the day is: Will 2013 be the year for Apple's HDTV?

According to DigiTimes, Apple is likely to move their Mac mini production line from Foxconn China to Foxconn US. Hiring will begin in 2013 for the new automated production lines that are expected to produce close to two million units. The move appears to be a PR move, as the volume is a drop in the bucket for Apple. Other major OEM's that might get the business includes Quanta Computer which has plants in Fremont California and Nashville, Tennessee. DigiTimes also reports today that Apple is inquiring about whether AU Optronics L5C line could be used to produce IGZO displays. Additionally, the report states that Innolux Corporation could enter Apple's supply chain as they've licensed IGZO technology from Sharp. This move may explain the news that leaked earlier this week that Sharp is set to end IGZO LCD Panel Supply to Apple. The twist to this news is that Sharp is likely to not supply the displays to Apple, directly. 

About two years ago we published a report titled "Apple Could Advance Gaming & Paint in Magic Mouse Upgrade." Today, a supporting patent has surfaced that relates to methods for how the magic mouse could process combinations of kinematical inputs such as force and velocity. According to Apple, the invention may have applicability to any electronic system or application capable of receiving input. For example, embodiments of the invention may be useful with video games, file browsing, interactive navigation, communication systems, control systems, military systems, medical devices, and industrial applications. See our 2010 report for more patent illustrations. A second patent application that surfaced this morning titled "Integrated media jukebox and physiologic data handling application" demonstrates that Apple is still tweaking their Nike + iPod system which was granted yet another patent earlier this week.