[FFR]

"On Tuesday, after review by a patent examiner, the United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded Apple an additional design patent relating to the iPad's "ornamental" design. The ornamental design feature encapsulated in US Patent D607,286 for a "Portable display device" appears to be a literal rounded rectangle. But whether or not this patent would be useful against Apple's rival and alleged "copy cat" Samsung in court is unclear.

Apple had originally asserted design patent D504,889 against Samsung as part of its massive lawsuit alleging that Samsung copied Apple's iPhone and iPad devices to make its competing Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab devices. That design patent, filed in 2004 and awarded in 2005, appears to be based on an early iPad prototype.

US federal judge Lucy Koh had originally awarded Apple a preliminary injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 device based on her judgement that Samsung likely infringed the '889 patent. However, a jury later ruled that the Samsung device did not infringe this particular patent, though Samsung had infringed several other patents in the process of designing various smartphones and tablets. Samsung noted that it was "unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners," and the injunction was later rescinded.

The '286 patent awarded on Tuesday appears to give Apple the exact patent the Samsung and Apple critics have erroneously claimed that the '889 patent was. The patent includes a number of drawings of the original iPad design, with most of its uniquely identifying features in dashed lines. As stated in the patent description, "broken lines in the Figures show portions of the portable display device which form no part of the claimed design.""

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/11...ded-rectangle/

[Jonathank]

didnt know u could actually patent a semi circle... Apple is so freaking Dumb,

[anon(2757538)]

Apple patents geometry...what's next, algerba? Trigonometry?

[The Me]

How are other companies supposed to build phones then?

[xandermac]

How are other companies supposed to build phones then?

License the rights

[kbz1960]

Cool does that mean since apple will be the only one that looks like that will they be considered old and odd?

[Balti43]

this is ********. thats like patenting the idea of the rectangular tv, sorry guys you need to think of other shapes, maybe a circle. good luck!

[calicocat2010]

License the rights

So what does this mean for BB10? Will they have to start over on the hardware design since the Dev Alphas' have rounded corners inside its case?

[xandermac]

It's irrelevant, it's an unenforceable patent. Some government employee saw that they had dotted the i's and crossed the T's and approved it. It will get invalidated


Sent from my 4s using TapaTalk

[Roo Zilla]

So what does this mean for BB10? Will they have to start over on the hardware design since the Dev Alphas' have rounded corners inside its case?

The patent refers to a tablet design, not a phone.

[CairnsRock]

Quick, quick, lets patent an "elongated square"

[raino]

For a company that's oh so particular about its patents being infringed,

VirnetX Soars After $368.2 Million Verdict Against Apple - Bloomberg

And here's the best part of this article. I literally LOLed:

�Apple does not owe money to VirnetX,� Danny Williams, a lawyer with Williams, Morgan & Amerson in Houston who represents Apple, told the jury. �VirnetX is not entitled to money for things they did not invent."

[TheScionicMan]

Just for clarity, here's the comment highlighted right below the article:

ChuckaluphagusArs Praefectuset Subscriptor jump to post

I think most people don't understand what it means that this is a design patent - it's not the same thing as a "regular" patent (a utility patent). Design patents allow a company to get an exclusive right to the form of a functional object so that a 3rd party can't make a different device with identical appearance (well, not legally at least). Almost every company that puts the time into making a distinctive shape for their devices gets one: Microsoft has one for the Xbox, George Lucas got one for Yoda etc.

Design patents are extremely narrow - you have to do your level best to copy them exactly in order to be found in infringement. Plus, they specifically cannot cover functionality - that has to be covered by a utility patent, if it's going to be protected. This design patent only protects a "portable display device" (that's the wording in the Patent itself), and only one with those specific design elements that are shown in the Patent Figures.

I'd be shocked if Apple hadn't applied for design patents for all of its devices. This really isn't an issue.

[raino]

I like the description in the comment, but comparing a tablet's design to an XBOX is a bit facetious, unless Apple's design patent is on the WHOLE device (i.e. you can't have a rounded rectangular tablet plus the button layout that their products has.)

[calicocat2010]

The patent refers to a tablet design, not a phone.

Oh ok, wonder how long That will last until Apple does this for their phones....

[DC506]

I think "Etch-a-Sketch" should sue Apple over this.

[kbz1960]

Just for clarity, here's the comment highlighted right below the article:

I can't remember all about the suit but do the Samsung devices fit this description?

[Sriman]

I understand apple doesn't have common sense... but who the heck in the patent office is granting these idiotic patents... patent for rectangle, circle, square... what comes next ...$hit? hope they will patent it also soon...

[Balti43]

I understand apple doesn't have common sense... but who the heck in the patent office is granting these idiotic patents... patent for rectangle, circle, square... what comes next ...$hit? hope they will patent it also soon...

Aw man now i have to be careful while playing NAME THAT SHAPE!

[raino]

Aw man now i have to be careful while playing NAME THAT SHAPE!

You got that right. If you ever see yourself answering as "rounded rectangle," you better add "...as innovated by Apple" to it.

[anon(3896606)]

Wow, this may just be the BIGGEST patent troll I have ever seen in my life!

[gxgs]

Thats what the screen of my laptop looks like, and it falls in the portable display device category.

Super smart patent office of the united states, awarding null patents to the greatest competition killer of all time, not even AT&T trying to buy TMobile matches what apple is doing.

[twstd.reality]

I wouldn't be surprised if this patent is invalidated down the road. Apple's already had their "rubber banding" patent tentatively rejected by the USPTO. Major changes are supposed to be on the way for patent reform in the US. In my opinion, it can't come soon enough.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworst...anding-patent/

"The United States Patent and Trademark Office has good news for Samsung, and Samsung has already shared it with Judge Koh in a late-night filing. In a non-final Office action the USPTO has declared all 20 claims of Apple�s rubber-banding patent (U.S. Patent No, 7,469,381 invalid, including claim 19, which Apple successfully asserted against Samsung in the summer trial in California. In fact, claim 19 is one of several claims to be deemed invalid for two reasons, either one of which would be sufficient on its own."

[TheScionicMan]

Protections

A US design patent covers the ornamental design for an object having practical utility. An object with a design that is substantially similar to the design claimed in a design patent cannot be made, used, copied or imported into the United States. The copy does not have to be exact for the patent to be infringed. It only has to be substantially similar.

Comparison to utility patents

US utility patents protect the functionality of a given item. Providing the maintenance fees are paid, utility patents are generally valid for up to 20 years from the date of filing (with some exceptions).
Design patents cover the ornamental nonfunctional design of an item. Design patents can be invalidated if the design has practical utility (e.g. the shape of a gear). Design patents are valid for 14 years from the date of issue. There are no maintenance fees.

Design patent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia