Mega Facepalm:Apple New patent

[theserpent]

In an move for which no level of facepalm can suffice, the USPTO granted Apple a patent for a rectangle with rounded corners last week. Regardless of how ridiculous it may sound, sadly it’s true. According to patent no. D670,286, design rights for a “portable display device” with an external shape that is a rectangle with rounded corners are now owned by Apple. See for yourself:



Note that only the solid line is part of the patented design; the dotted lines serve as mere reference, or more likely influence, to make it look more like a patentable product, but who exactly are they fooling here? The USPTO, apparently.

What makes it even more inexplicable is the fact that design patents are almost always quite specific, to the extent that anyone else would really need to replicate that particular design in order to infringe upon it. In this case however, nothing else but the rounded cornered rectangular shape is patented—no buttons, no back shape, no screen shape, not even the radius of the rounded corner. This in itself raises questions about the practical validity of this patent, and whether those in charge of putting a stamp on this patent application were under the influence or in the reality distortion field.

As most of you may know, this isn’t the first time Apple has resorted to something like this. The company has had a history of getting overly broad and non-essential patents, trying to license them to its competitors, and taking to court those who fail to comply. Such broad patents awarded to Apple in the past were at times deemed as invalid by the USPTO after further investigations but the damage was done by that time, in form of import bans on competitors for the products initially declared as infringing. In the end, it’s the consumers who suffer from all of this.

So what should be the course of action from here? As discussed recently by egzthunder1 in The Weekly Apple Fail Update, both the USPTO and the US justice system should take cues from the UK, extract their heads from their rears, and take a closer look at what is being examined before awarding a patent or a ruling. Untill that happens, let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that Apple doesn’t start taking all tablet and smartphone manufacturers to court for infringing upon this one.

Patent System Fail: All your Rectangle with Rounded Corners are Belong to Apple – xda-developers

[Gearbox]

what will happen to External HDD's then?

[theserpent]

Apple has gone MAD!

[rohit32407]

Day by day this patent system is becoming more and more ridiculous. If this post wasn't in this section of the forum i would have thought that it was just a random sarcastic post and yes it's that ridiculous.

[theserpent]

I should start a company, and patent notifcation bar and sue apple

[rohit32407]

what will happen to External HDD's then?

Maybe they will have to do with Square Shape or maybe a parallelogram . Well parallelogram shaped HDDs would be fun to own . I am waiting for the time when apple will start patenting measurement of the arc of the rounded corners.

[NoasArcAngel]

Patent System Fail: All your Rectangle with Rounded Corners are Belong to Apple – xda-developers

sue me apple

[cyborg47]

That first comment in the article...so much win!

[Gearbox]

screw you lifebuoy...

[theserpent]

Lol...the first comment in xda
xD

http://a2graphz.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/apple-patents-rectanglewith-rounded-corners-are-belong-to-apple/

http://a2graphz.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/apple-patents-rectanglewith-rounded-corners-are-belong-to-apple/

[Rishi.]

what will happen to External HDD's then?

Nothing. The patent applies only to portable display device.And not any portable device.

[DeSmOnD dAvId]

Imagine if Henry Ford patented all four wheeler cars, today we would all have 3 wheelers or 5 wheelers etc by other manufacturers and only Ford cars would be 4 wheelers.

Rotten apple does not fall far from the tree.

[Rishi.]

Imagine if Henry Ford patented all four wheeler cars, today we would all have 3 wheelers or 5 wheelers etc by other manufacturers and only Ford cars would be 4 wheelers.

Rotten apple does not fall far from the tree.

Can't imagine me driving an Auto-Rickshaw.

[Gearbox]

Apple thinks it's a decisive strategy on the future tablet market.
But, what if someone creates a tablet with square-shaped tablet with rounded corners.
Will they sue them?

Patents like this cripple innovation and what the current tablet/mobile makers are going to address this issue?

[Piyush]

crApple

[bubusam13]

Guys, read the comment of mohit. I fell off from my chair. ha ha
Patent System Fail: All your Rectangle with Rounded Corners are Belong to Apple – xda-developers

They also patented page turning. Guys, burn Apple. Let Indian farmers patent a apple.
check here

[101gamzer]

# is really testing my nerves....

[pratyush997]

Apple...go home.. U r heavily drunk.... Steve Y u no alive to kick cook's @ss.... Ohh.. Damn apple ....
what if motorola sue every company for making cellular phones... Or nokia does for gsm mobiles... Apple went crazy cuz of droid jb and wp8

[DeSmOnD dAvId]

This is actually the proof that the human race is gradually devolving back into primitive creatures.

[gameranand]

Well I can't stop laughing after reading this. Patented a shape, are you kidding me. LOL at the first comment on xda.
Anyways where does this patent system would work, world level or USA level ??

[Rishi.]

Well I can't stop laughing after reading this. Patented a shape, are you kidding me. LOL at the first comment on xda.
Anyways where does this patent system would work, world level or USA level ??

lol ... // probably USA .

[reniarahim1]

lol..i thought it was just a joke when i first saw it..

[Gearbox]

Tech pundits exploded the other day when they learned Apple received a patent for the "rounded corner" design of the iPad.The problem, they said, is that it would cause other tablet manufacturers to rethink their product design for fear of being sued by Apple for using such a common form factor.

But Apple's patent isn't as absurd as it sounds. In fact, it's very common for companies to patent their iconic product designs.
Coca-Cola has a patent for its Coke bottle, for example. And Ray Ban has a patent for its Wayfarer sunglasses.

Does that mean other soda companies can't put drinks in a glass bottle? Does that mean other eyewear companies can't make sunglasses with pointed tips at the top of the lenses?

Nope.
And it doesn't mean other tablet manufacturers can't make tablets with rounded corners for fear of being sued out the nose by Apple.

Apple's newly-minted design patent will only protect it from blatant copies, according to Florian Mueller, who runs the popular patent blog Foss Patents.

"Apple could allege infringement by anyone who makes tablets with four evenly-rounded corners, but the validity of this patent is very questionable," Mueller said in an email interview. "It proved difficult enough for Apple to defend a design patent that covered a particular combination of multiple characteristics, so it's hard to imagine that this broad and general design patent will be deemed valid by the courts."
On the other hand, Mueller called it "regrettable" that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office would award the design patent to Apple in a time when the tech industry is especially sensitive to the problems over broad patents can cause.

Luckily, the patent is only valid in the U.S.

Why Apple's 'Rounded Corners' iPad Patent Isn't As Absurd As It Sounds (AAPL) - SFGate

[Rishi.]

THough the patent system su**s , still Thanks to the patent , we might get to see some new designs soon in the market.
The I-phone design seems boring too me.
Hell lots of Droids looking all the way same.(See most of sammies for example)

THis is why I love Nokia , look at the variety of designs it has produced.A true hardware company. I had 6600 , N6630 (unique design) , N95(dual slider) , N93(completely unique), N97 .
Its so sad to see them loosing the hold in market.

[Gearbox]

I love their ngage-qd precisely.
A tidbit on Nokia designs -->

Spoiler:

Coming to the topic, i doubt this patent will make the new designs unique.

[DeSmOnD dAvId]

I doubt this patent will last much longer. Owing to its stupidity, I am sure there will be many to challenge its validity.