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If you don't think Apple innovates on 'thin' designs, I don't know what to tell you. And if a tablet came out that looked like the iPad before the iPad, I don't

If you don't think Apple innovates on 'thin' designs, I don't know what to tell you. And if a tablet came out that looked like the iPad before the iPad, I don't think we would see the iPad as it is today, and everyone would be copying what ever design Apple did do.

dpark 15y ago
Thin is not a patentable idea. If Apple's thinness innovations are truly patentable, then they should get a patent for the specific technologies they've invented and not a design patent for the idea of making something thin. People have wanted thinner computers forever. Also, the article shows a tablet that came out before the iPad looking at lesst as much like the iPad as the Galaxy Tab.
- TechNewb 15y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_patent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_patent http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/1500_1504_01_a.htm#sect1504.01a http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/1500_150... http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/designapp.jsp#def http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/designapp.jsp#d... http://www.theverge.com/2011/04/19/apple-sues-samsung-analysis/ http://www.theverge.com/2011/04/19/apple-sues-samsung-analys... http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=77303282 http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=7... And I don't think the Crunch Pad looks like the iPad. For the reasons stated above, and the rumors of the iPad began before the Crunch Pad was conceived.
  - Natsu 15y ago
    It's a bit hard to copy rumors isn't it?
    - TechNewb 15y ago
      No, not if they are inspired by existing patents of forthcoming products. http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apples-ipad-welcome-to-the-revolution.html http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apples-i... And like I said, the prototypes of Crunch Pad don't look like the iPad. The Crunch Pad looks like an iPad after it was announced.
  - dpark 15y ago
    Thanks, I know what a design patent is. (Not sure why you think patent discussion about icon design is relevant to thinness, though.) Thinness is not still not patentable. That's an integral element. Saying that "thin" is patentable is like saying "has a screen" is patentable. Apple's case hinges on the idea that they can own the very idea of a tablet that doesn't suck. And seriously, this doesn't look like the iPad, at least to the same extent that the Galaxy Tab does? Come on. https://img.skitch.com/20111209-miewsiy6mswhbbnid2ddfmmqbd.jpg https://img.skitch.com/20111209-miewsiy6mswhbbnid2ddfmmqbd.j...
    - TechNewb 15y ago
      You're trolling a troll here. I never said being thin is a design patentable in unto itself, but I'm focusing on the overall design aesthetic. Which is part of what is patentable, and Apple innovates on. They have created new technology multiple times to achieve the effect, and do have design patents around that area as well. And if you read the links, icon design is part of the design patent itself, which is obviously copied as well. The whole design of Crunch Pad and Samsung smell of design theft. http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apples-ipad-welcome-to-the-revolution.html http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apples-i...
morsch 15y ago
They are welcome to get a regular patent covering their new approaches to implementing thin hardware (e.g. new battery technology or whatever). Getting on a monopoly on (or due to) the design trait "thin", however, is not acceptable, even if it were the case that Apple came up with the idea of thin devices, which is obviously not so.
- TechNewb 15y ago
  I already said it was the overall design aesthetic, not one simple element, but that it's obvious that Apple is a leading innovator in the space of thin industrial design. iPhone, iPod, iMac, the Air, are all some of the thinest in class. Plus you can see how even the CrunchPad/JooJoo changed it's design aesthetic to match that of the iPad after the iPad was publicly announced. And where/when did monopoly come up in this conversation? To my knowledge patents do not enable a company to a monopoly.
  - drcube 15y ago
    >And where/when did monopoly come up in this conversation? To my knowledge patents do not enable a company to a monopoly. That's exactly what a patent IS. A temporary monopoly, granted by the government.

dpark 15y ago

Thin is not a patentable idea. If Apple's thinness innovations are truly patentable, then they should get a patent for the specific technologies they've invented and not a design patent for the idea of making something thin. People have wanted thinner computers forever. Also, the article shows a tablet that came out before the iPad looking at lesst as much like the iPad as the Galaxy Tab.

TechNewb 15y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_patent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_patent http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/1500_1504_01_a.htm#sect1504.01a http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/1500_150... http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/designapp.jsp#def http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/designapp.jsp#d... http://www.theverge.com/2011/04/19/apple-sues-samsung-analysis/ http://www.theverge.com/2011/04/19/apple-sues-samsung-analys... http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=77303282 http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=7... And I don't think the Crunch Pad looks like the iPad. For the reasons stated above, and the rumors of the iPad began before the Crunch Pad was conceived.
- Natsu 15y ago
  It's a bit hard to copy rumors isn't it?
  - TechNewb 15y ago
    No, not if they are inspired by existing patents of forthcoming products. http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apples-ipad-welcome-to-the-revolution.html http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apples-i... And like I said, the prototypes of Crunch Pad don't look like the iPad. The Crunch Pad looks like an iPad after it was announced.
- dpark 15y ago
  Thanks, I know what a design patent is. (Not sure why you think patent discussion about icon design is relevant to thinness, though.) Thinness is not still not patentable. That's an integral element. Saying that "thin" is patentable is like saying "has a screen" is patentable. Apple's case hinges on the idea that they can own the very idea of a tablet that doesn't suck. And seriously, this doesn't look like the iPad, at least to the same extent that the Galaxy Tab does? Come on. https://img.skitch.com/20111209-miewsiy6mswhbbnid2ddfmmqbd.jpg https://img.skitch.com/20111209-miewsiy6mswhbbnid2ddfmmqbd.j...
  - TechNewb 15y ago
    You're trolling a troll here. I never said being thin is a design patentable in unto itself, but I'm focusing on the overall design aesthetic. Which is part of what is patentable, and Apple innovates on. They have created new technology multiple times to achieve the effect, and do have design patents around that area as well. And if you read the links, icon design is part of the design patent itself, which is obviously copied as well. The whole design of Crunch Pad and Samsung smell of design theft. http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apples-ipad-welcome-to-the-revolution.html http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apples-i...

morsch 15y ago

They are welcome to get a regular patent covering their new approaches to implementing thin hardware (e.g. new battery technology or whatever). Getting on a monopoly on (or due to) the design trait "thin", however, is not acceptable, even if it were the case that Apple came up with the idea of thin devices, which is obviously not so.

TechNewb 15y ago
I already said it was the overall design aesthetic, not one simple element, but that it's obvious that Apple is a leading innovator in the space of thin industrial design. iPhone, iPod, iMac, the Air, are all some of the thinest in class. Plus you can see how even the CrunchPad/JooJoo changed it's design aesthetic to match that of the iPad after the iPad was publicly announced. And where/when did monopoly come up in this conversation? To my knowledge patents do not enable a company to a monopoly.
- drcube 15y ago
  >And where/when did monopoly come up in this conversation? To my knowledge patents do not enable a company to a monopoly. That's exactly what a patent IS. A temporary monopoly, granted by the government.