USPTO Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

iTunes, Sony PlayStation Network targeted in suit

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 29th, 2012)

Another day and another patent lawsuit. Today, we have a new lawsuit from investor Benjamin Grobler who claims Apple's iTunes and Sony's PlayStation network induce customers to violate his "data vending system" patent, says a report in Computerworld. Grobler's US patent describes a data vending ...

Apple granted patent on improved antenna design

by Steven Sande (Mar 27th, 2012)

If the news of Apple's newly-granted patent on a SIM tray wasn't enough to get you all excited this morning, here's some additional patent news that should have bouncing up and down with delight. OK, maybe not, but Apple did secure a second patent today -- Number 8,144,063, which was applied ...

Apple patents SIM tray amid nano-SIM battle

by Steven Sande (Mar 27th, 2012)

TUAW's been all over the nano-SIM battle being waged in the hallowed halls of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), pitching Apple against the evil triumvirate of Nokia, Motorola, and RIM. Now, just coincidentally, Apple has received U.S. Patent 8,145,261 for "Ejectable ...

Apple can't get "multi-touch" trademark

by Michael Grothaus (Sep 26th, 2011)

Apple has been denied a trademark for the term "multi-touch," reports MacRumors. Apple originally applied for the trademark on January 9, 2007, just one day before the first iPhone was introduced. The United States Patent and Trademark Office denied the initial trademark application, but per ...

Apple granted a trademark for the word 280

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jul 6th, 2011)

Apple received a trademark for the word 280 and the icon for its iOS navigation app. The trademark application was filed in April 2010 and granted on June 28, 2011. "280", for those who are wondering, refers to Route 280 which runs next to Apple's campus at One Infinite Loop in Cupertino. The ...

Apple trademarks AirDrop

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jun 20th, 2011)

Apple introduced AirDrop as one new feature included in Mac OS X Lion. AirDrop is a file sharing service that lets you easily send files to other nearby AirDrop users. Apple now owns the trademark for the service, apparently acquiring it from Urban Airship, Inc. The trademark application was ...

Apple may settle iCloud trademark lawsuit says legal expert

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jun 14th, 2011)

Apple may settle a trademark lawsuit with iCloud Communications according to patent and trademark lawyer Brad Salai of Harter Secrest & Emery law firm. Apple was slapped with a trademark infringement lawsuit following its big iCloud announcement at WWDC last week. The company, iCloud ...

Apple awarded iPhone 4 design patent

by Dana Franklin (Apr 20th, 2011)

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently awarded Apple with 18 fresh patents according to documents released by the government agency this week. Among the 18 new patents, one specifically addresses the design of the iPhone 4. In the newly granted patent, filed by Apple in ...

Apple expands App Store trademark in Europe

by Dana Franklin (Apr 4th, 2011)

Two filings published by the European Trademark Office last week suggest the battle for the term "App Store" will expand to new product categories and new turf. Patently Apple reports that the first request from Apple, filed on March 30, expands the use of the term "App Store" from four ...

Apple working on video ringtones

by Dana Franklin (Mar 7th, 2011)

Patently Apple recently uncovered a patent filed by Apple that describes methods for creating video ringtones for telephonic iOS devices like the iPhone. The technology is designed to allow users to automatically combine sound and video from various sources, including iTunes and iMovie, to ...

Apple seeking new paradigm for educating students with special needs

by Dana Franklin (Mar 3rd, 2011)

According to a report from AppleInsider, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week disclosed a recent patent application for delivering educational content to students in a classroom setting. Filed by Apple in August 2009, under the title "External Content Transformation," the patent ...

Apple patent shows new "smart bezel" for tablets

by Kelly Hodgkins (Feb 19th, 2011)

An Apple patent was published this week that details a touch sensitive, smart bezel for its tablet devices. The bezel would include touch sensors, pressure sensors, light emitters, haptic actuators and accelerometers. With this array of embedded sensors, a user could touch the bezel and control ...

Apple investigates hover gestures

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jan 27th, 2011)

Apple was awarded a patent on Tuesday for a hover sensitive device that accepts input from finger movements above the device's display. The patent describes the usage of "real-world" gestures to control a device equipped with a touch or hover-sensitive display. Hand and finger movements include ...

Apple wins patent for solar-powered portable device

by David Quilty (Jan 13th, 2011)

We recently covered how Apple was awarded 563 patents in 2010, but a patent approval announced today is for something we first mentioned back in January of 2010 -- a patent for power management circuitry for solar-powered portable devices. Patently Apple is reporting that the US Patent and ...

Apple awarded patents for Slide to Unlock, keyboard letter pop

by Steven Sande (Aug 17th, 2010)

In the fast-changing world of smartphone design, often the most valuable thing that a company can own is a patent for a specific feature they've invented. No matter how seemingly trivial the design feature is, a company like Apple will seek patent protection in order to maintain the uniqueness of ...