Apple Granted Patent for the iPhone 5's Integrated Touch Display

Apple was granted a patent today for their invention relating to displays including display pixel stackups, and more particularly to touch sensing circuitry integrated into the display pixel stackup of a display.



Phil Schiller first introduced Apple's Integrated Touch technology when introducing the iPhone 5 as shown below.



Apple's integrated touch technology relates to what the industry calls a One Glass Solution. Apple credits Steven Hotelling, Marduke Yousefpor and Shih Chang as inventors of granted patent 8,363,027 filed in June 2012.

Apple Wins Original iPhone Patent for GUI for Zooming out on a Touch-Screen Display

Apple has been granted a key patent relating to devices with touch-screen displays, and more particularly to scrolling lists and to translating, rotating, and scaling electronic documents on devices with touch-screen displays. This patent differs from Apple's "Pinch to Zoom' patent that was used against Samsung. Whether this patent will be able to provide Apple with more ammunition against Samsung in the future is unknown at this time.

Apple's First Patent Claim: A device, comprising: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: displaying an electronic document at a first magnification on the touch screen display; detecting a gesture on the touch screen display corresponding to a command to zoom out by a user-specified amount; displaying the electronic document at a magnification less than the first magnification on the touch screen display, in response to detecting the gesture; displaying the electronic document at a magnification wherein areas beyond opposite edges of the electronic document are displayed on the touch screen display, if a document length or a document width is entirely displayed while the gesture is still detected on the touch screen display; and in response to detecting termination of the gesture, displaying the electronic document at a magnification wherein the areas beyond opposite edges of the electronic document are no longer displayed on the touch screen display.

Apple credits Bas Ording as the sole inventor of granted patent 8,365,090 which was filed in 2008 with references back to 2007.

Apple Granted Second Patent for Harnessing Power through Electromagnetic Induction

Today, Apple has been granted their second patent relating to harnessing power through electromagnetic induction. We first covered Apple's invention in our report titled "Future Apple Hardware to Harness the Power of Magnetic Induction," in March 2011. Apple received their first granted patent for this invention in June 2012.

Apple filed their second patent application for this back in September 2012, but Phil Schiller cast some doubt on its viability as a future solution. That all made sense in late November when a new wireless charging invention of Apple's came to light. Whether Apple will be able to combine various charging technologies for a final solution in the future is unknown at this time.

Apple credits Gloria Lin, Pareet Rahul, Michael Rosenblatt, Taido Nakajima, Bruno Germansderfer and Saumitro Dasgupta as the inventors of granted patent 8,362,751 which was originally filed in Q2 2012 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple Granted a Patent for the MacBook's Clutch Mechanism that Operates the Hinge

Apple was granted a patent today for their invention relating to electronic devices and, more particularly, to clutch structures for hinges in electronic devices such as Apple's MacBooks.

Apple credits Brett Degner, Patrick Kessler and Chris Ligtenberg as the inventors of this granted patent which was filed in Q1 2012 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office. To review today's granted patent claims and details, see US Number 8,359,710.

Apple Granted Patent for Contactless Plug Detect Mechanism

Apple's newly granted patent relates to detecting a plug placed in an electronic device without physically contacting the plug. What's the significance of such a technology? Well, with devices being designed ever smaller and devices like an iWatch being considered, the traditional design for plug detection isn't going to work. Apple's patent discusses their new solution which paves the way for next generation wearable devices and more.

Apple credits Stephen Lynch, Fletcher Rothkopf and Gordon Camera (of Ottawa Canada) as the inventors of granted patent 8,360,801 which we originally covered in July 22, 2010 under the title: Apple Reveals Technology Required for Future Miniature Products. Even though Apple's new Lightning connector is tiny, it may not be tiny enough for a thin iWatch or other type of miniature wear computer such Apple's 2008 Head Mounted Display.

The Remaining Patents that were granted to Apple Today

It's Granted Patent Day

Readers should be aware that every Tuesday the US Patent and Trademark Office publish Apple's Granted Patents. Granted patents are approved patent applications that Apple applied for months or even years ago. In the vast majority of cases, "granted patents" aren't covering any new kind of technology on the day the patent is being granted. New Apple technologies are generally revealed on Thursdays by the US Patent Office in the form of published patent applications. Some Mac sites confuse this process by making claims and presenting bylines on Tuesday that insinuate that Apple has just revealed a new technology or process. In 99% of cases, this is simply untrue and readers should be made aware of this fact. Known exceptions would include patents that were recently acquired by Apple or a domestic and/or foreign patent application that Apple had never presented in the US before under its own brand name.

Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of granted patents with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each Granted Patent is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any Granted Patent should be read in its entirety for full details. About Comments: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments.

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