The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 57 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we briefly cover 3 patents. The first granted patent covers the original Touch ID button and improvements to touch display in general. The second granted patent covers an AirPower-type charging pad, but focuses on how the user interface for the charging pad uniquely surfaced on the display of a charging device like an iPhone or iPad. The third granted patent covers the iPhone with an inductive charging coil dating back to the 2018 iPhones that offered faster charging speeds.  Our report covers two design patents and as always, we wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.

Fingerprint-Assisted Force Estimation (Touch ID)

Apple's patent FIGS.5B and 8 represents a finger touch the cover glass and specifically in relation to the Touch ID button with a fingerprint sensor as noted in the patent summary.  The patent dates all the way back to 2012 just prior to it being introduces on the iPhone 5S in 2013. For more details, review granted patent 10,949,020.

A Multi-Device Charging Pad (AirPower) user interface

Apple's patent Figure 6S below is from granted patent 10,951,043 illustrates a possible future charging pad (AirPower) charging 3 devices including an Apple Watch, iPhone and what appears to represent an AirTags-like device, though Apple never clarifies what #630B actually is. Patently Apple first covered this as a patent application back in December 2018 and you could review it here for more details.

iPhone with an Inductive Charging Unit Built-In

The last granted patent in this report covers Apple's iPhone with inductive charging. The date of the filing (2018) would suggest that the patent covers the faster inductive charging that was introduced with the iPhone XS and XS Max. The patent figures about illustrate an iPhone face and back where the charging coil is positioned. For more on this, review granted patent 10,951,053.

Key Design Patents Granted Today

The Remaining Patents Granted to Apple Today