Before there was ever a Samsung phone with active icons on the curved sides, there was an Apple granted patent. We covered this invention last summer when Android fans were saying that Apple was about to copy the Samsung Galaxy Edge. In fact Apple had gained their first patent on this before Samsung's patent or product. Apple was granted their second patent for this invention last August and today Apple has been granted their third patent for this feature with updated patent claims once again. In this granted patent, Apple single's out the use of a virtual camera icon on the edge of a future iDevice.

One of the additions to the patent claims was found in claim #1 which reads as follows:

"An electronic device having a front region and a side region, comprising: a flexible display layer having an array of display pixels; a touch-sensitive layer having an array of touch sensor electrodes that detect touch input on the front region of the electronic device and on the side region of the electronic device; and a transparent cover layer having a first portion that covers the flexible display layer on the front region and a second portion that covers the flexible display layer on the side region, wherein the first portion of the transparent cover layer defines a plane, wherein the second portion of the transparent cover layer is curved out of the plane, wherein the array of display pixels displays images through the transparent cover layer on the front region and the side region, wherein the images on the side region comprise a camera icon for controlling a camera function, wherein the array of display pixels includes a first group of display pixels that displays the camera icon and a second group of display pixels that at least partially surrounds the first group of display pixels; and control circuitry that selectively activates and inactivates the second group of display pixels, wherein the control circuitry activates the second group of display pixels so that the array of display pixels displays images that span across the front region and the side region."

Apple's granted patent 9,791,949 was filed in Q1 2015 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Apple's original invention dates back to 2011.

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