The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published two new Apple Inc. trademark applications covering a major update to their International Classes that will protect both the iPad mini and iPad Air as handehld gaming consoles.

Apple updated their iPad mini and iPad Air trademark classes officially on Monday. Apple's past International Class coverage included classes 021, 023, 026, 036 and 038 which collectively covered the following:

"handheld mobile digital electronic device comprising a tablet computer, electronic book and periodical reader, digital audio and video player, camera, electronic personal organizer, personal digital assistant, electronic calendar, and mapping and global positioning system (GPS) device, and capable of providing access to the Internet and sending, receiving, and storing messages and other data."

The new International Class being added to both iPad mini and iPad Air is Class 28 which specifically covers:

"Hand-held consoles for playing video games; Hand-held units for playing electronic games; handheld game consoles."

The official serial number for the iPad Air trademark update is 88355796 while the serial number for the iPad mini is noted as 88355833.

Apple's Specimens to USPTO

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