The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple 64 newly granted patents today. In this report we cover patents for Memoji technology, future acoustic display based audio, Apple Watch heart rate sensors and more. We wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.

One: Memoji Related Technology

Apple Granted Patent 10,430,645 for "Facial recognition operations based on pose." This patent came from the acquired company Faceshift that lead to Animoji and Memoji with the help of Apple engineers.

Four of the inventors on this patent were from Faceshift including former CEO and Co-Founder Thibaut Weise; Brian Amberg, former CTO and Co-Founder; Stefan Brugger Senior Computer Vision Engineer at Apple, former Faceshift software developer; and Faceshift Co-Founder Sofien Bouazis who worked on Apple's Computer Vision team is now with Google as a staff Research Scientist.

Two: HomePod Fabric Cover

Apple Granted Patent 10,427,374 for "Seamless spacer fabrics for electronic devices." The patent covers the seamless spacer fabric on HomePod. Patently Apple covered this as a patent application back in 2018 in a report titled "Apple Engineers invented a new way to make Spacer Fabrics Aesthetically Appealing for HomePod."

Three: Apple Watch Sensors

Apple Granted Patent 10,426,402 for "Skin proximity and tilt effect sensor." Patently Apple covered this as a patent application back in 2015 in a report titled "Apple Advances Future Apple Watch Heart Rate Sensor System."

Four:  Acoustic Display Audio

Apple Granted Patent 10,431,636 for "Electronic devices having displays with openings." Patently Apple covered this invention in two patent application reports; the first in 2017 and the second in 2018.  In 2017 Sony introduced their an OLED TV with "Acoustic Surface" audio where the sound comes through the display, something that Apple's patent supports as a front facing speaker.

Xiaomi showed off their future smartphone called the Mi Mix Alpha which offers a wraparound display (like Apple's 2013 patent) and "display acoustic technology," as pointed out below. This is what Apple's granted patent will be able to offer future iPhones if Apple so chooses to go that route.

Apple Design Patent

Apple's key granted design patent issued today by USPTO covers an Apple TV display structure found in Apple Stores. With Apple Arcade and Apple TV+ services in full bloom this holiday season, this could be a very popular and busy display structure to visit at Apple Stores.  

The Remaining Patents granted to Apple Today

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