The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 37 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we briefly cover patents related to the Mac Pro tower, liquid metal used to create a major component of the iPhone and more. In closing, we wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.

Granted Patent: iPod Lanyard and Coupling Tool

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to accessory devices configured to engage attachment mechanisms, and more particularly to lanyards configured to engage attachment mechanisms coupled to an electronic device and associated tools. More specifically, the patent covers Apple's the lanyard system for the iPod touch.

Apple's patent FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of an attachment mechanism comprising a post that is rotatable between recessed and extended; Apple's figure 9 illustrates an embodiment of a lanyard comprising an opening configured to engage a head of an attachment mechanism.

Apple credits Trent Weber as the sole inventor of granted patent 9,033,199 which was originally filed in Q3 2012 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Granted Patent: Liquid Metal Related

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to methods of making use of open cell foams as a processing aid or to improve the properties of bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy materials. The patent confirms that the iPhone 4's metal band was made from a liquid metal process.

Apple's Device 10 noted in patent FIG. 5 below is an example of an iPhone that supports 2G, 3G, and/or 4G cellular telephone and data functions, global positioning system capabilities and beyond. Antennas for handling wireless communications may be housed within housing 12.

More specifically, the patent points out that the iPhone's housing, which is sometimes referred to as a case or band, can be fabricated from a composite bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy/foam material. In a preferred embodiment, one or more portions of the housing may be processed to form a part of the antennas in the device. For example, metal portions of the housing may be shorted to an internal ground plane in the device to create a larger ground plane element for that device.

Apple credits Christopher Prest, Matthew Scott, Stephen Zadesky, Dermot Stratton and Joseph Poole as the inventors of granted patent 9,033,024 which was published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Other liquid metal reports in our archives include these: one, two, three, four and their most recent granted patent covering liquid metal for the manufacturing of screws.

Apple Granted Five Design Patents Today

Apple was granted five design patents today. The main designs that are noteworthy include an Apple Store within a Store display table (D729,560) and the Mac Pro's tower top (D729,809) as noted below. The other designs covered a MacBook battery and two user interface elements relating to GarageBand and iMovie.

The Remaining Patents granted to Apple Today

Note: In order to see a clearer image of the list above, simply click on the image above to enlarge it. Some browsers may require that you click on the image and then a second click on the image to enlarge it fully.

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 Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 5am to 7pm MST and sporadically over the weekend.