Apple received a patent on the iPad design
Makradar Technologies / / December 19, 2019
Can the company get a patent on a rectangle with rounded corners? Absolutely. At least, it was possible until recently, before this is seriously engaged in Apple lawyers. Result - Registration Office of patents and trade marks US (US Patent and Trademark Office) has granted Apple a patent for a "unique and unrepeatableĀ» iPad design.
For those who are not familiar with the intricacies of patent law, explain: patents in the field of design covers only the appearance of an object, not touching its functionality. So you can come to the conclusion that the first sentence in the previous paragraph even though it seems at first glance absurd, but meets reality.
Let us dwell for a moment on the formal details. This patent goes on to patent registration office and retail US brands by number D670,286 and it was filed by lawyers from the Cupertino company about two years ago, in December 2010. I recall the very first iPad model was presented to the public at a presentation in San Francisco a few months earlier, in January 2010.
Lee Shaver, Associate Professor McKinney School of Law at the University of Indiana (Associate Professor with Indiana University's McKinney School of Law), shared her own comments to the publication Wired:
This patent in the design of Apple does not give any advantage, since none of the representatives of the tablet segment does not intend to create a clean copy of the iPad. In my opinion, it does not change the state of affairs. This is just a small glimmer of good news for Apple, while the whole week for the company has turned quite negative.
It is important to note that Apple will not be able to use the patent against the tablet Galaxy Tab and Samsung Corp., trying to accuse her of copying iPad. At least, so says Lee Shaver:
Samsung Galaxy has a round button on the bottom edge of the device, and the front camera not in the middle. Though the rear panel connects to the front plate of a similar design, the angle of the slope is still different. And most important, Galaxy Tab is very uneven from iPad proportions, weight and thickness.
[via wired.com]