Evo 5 RS
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/08/apple_rectangle_rounded_corners/
Surely that has to be the end of it?
Thinking of making a thing that is portable, has a display and is rectangular with rounded corners? Well, DON'T! You'll be infringing Apple's new design patent.Apple already owns a design that describes an iPad-like slab with rounded corners, patent US D627,777. Now it's got another one and it's much simpler: behold US D670,286.
Filed in November 2010, '286 was published by the US Patent Office on 6 November this week. The scope of the patented design is defined by the eight submitted diagrams, which show a thin rectangular iPad-like device with rounded corners. Here it is:
The solid black line outlines the aspect of the design that is now patented. Broken lines are just added for context. So, essentially, that'll be just a rectangle with rounded corners protected, then.
The previous design patent was more detailed, and included various ridges and trim around the iPad, rather than this latest all-encompassing filing that just simply patents a rectangle with non-sharp corners.
It took 15 of Apple's finest to come up with this particular shape; iPad engineering manager Jody Akana, the late Steve Jobs and Sir Jony Ive are among those credited with creating the design.
Apple's protected rectangles are often used as a example of PATENTS GONE MAD, but it's no match for this gem from the US Patent Office Hall of Fame, "a method of exercising a cat", which describes the use of handheld laser-pointer for keeping friendly felines fit as a fiddle. ®
