
Apple awarded design patent for actual rounded rectangle - Reltair
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/11/apple-awarded-design-patent-for-actual-rounded-rectangle/
======
jccc
The first comment on Ars Technica FWIW: (I take no stand, have no expertise,
just posting someone's sober response so it'll be seen here.)

 _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."_

[http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/11/apple-awarded-design-
pa...](http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/11/apple-awarded-design-patent-for-
actual-rounded-rectangle/?comments=1&post=23471953#comment-23471953)

~~~
incision
> _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._

I'd say a rounded rectangle isn't narrow at all.

Consider one of the examples given, the XBOX. The XBOX design patent found
here [1] contains far more in the way of specific, distinguishing features
than the rounded rectangle [2] Apple is claiming.

Microsoft would have to be awarded a design patent for a "roughly square
electronic housing" to equal the absurdity.

1: [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sec...](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-
bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=D452,282&OS=D452,282&RS=D452,282)

2: [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sec...](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-
bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=D670,286&OS=D670,286&RS=D670,286)

~~~
esolyt
Not only a rounded rectangle isn't narrow enough, but it is also an obvious
shape for a tablet.

~~~
grecy
> it is also an obvious shape for a tablet.

Only n the same way a coke bottle is an obvious shape for a soda bottle, and a
BMW is an obvious shape for a car.

Hindsight is 20/20.

~~~
subsection1h
It's obvious, no 20/20 hindsight required.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCARS#PADD>

~~~
Zenst
Indeed, I do wonder if Hollywood had focused more on filing IP patents instead
of complaining about protecting there margins then they would of been better
of.

Now if somebody could only patent taking an idea from a movie or TV series and
applying in real life. Then put that in the public domain, well, it would be
interesting for the public at least with regards to being able to apply common
sence with a hint of health and safty. Not like we have square eye's and retro
displays were rectangular with rounded corners.

------
sabret00the
I notice that the Editor's pick comment notes how Microsoft have one for the
Xbox and Lucas Arts has one for Yoda. Both are in fact original designs, the
iPad on the other hand doesn't fall into that category. This is another case
of the USPTO failing for me.

------
angersock
The system works! The underdog's vital and unique IP, heretofore unimaginable
and unprotected, has been safeguarded! We've ensured the creative process will
continue unabated!

------
sneak
[http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_E...](http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_Everywhere.txt)

> Steve suddenly got more intense. "Rectangles with rounded corners are
> everywhere! Just look around this room!". And sure enough, there were lots
> of them, like the whiteboard and some of the desks and tables. Then he
> pointed out the window. "And look outside, there's even more, practically
> everywhere you look!". He even persuaded Bill to take a quick walk around
> the block with him, pointing out every rectangle with rounded corners that
> he could find.

------
TheCapn
"A design patent may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and
ornamental design for an article of manufacture." [Source:
<http://www.uspto.gov/main/faq/index.html>]

I really try to be objective when reading things about this as I'm fairly
negative when it comes to Apple and Patent discussion but can someone possibly
more impartial explain the validity of this application to me? The quote above
itself seems pretty clear that neither a _new_ or _original_ idea has been
presented here.

~~~
rayiner
It makes more sense in the context of the top post referencing how narrow
design patents are. It also makes more sense to think of them as being more
about branding/trademark than patent.

So it's novel in the sense that nothing previously looked literally like an
iPad. That narrow level of novelty also defines the narrow scope of the
protection.

~~~
piyush_soni
But this design patent would still make sense (I mean I'd still fight myself
to do, but eventually I'll settle with that) if all the lines were unbroken in
that. But as you can see, the only solid line there is the rounded rectangle.
That means, they've got exclusive design right to make tablets with rounded
rectangles. What am I missing (a genuine question).

------
jhuckestein
They got a design patent for the iPad's design. Not for a rounded rectangle.
Comp the first comment on arstechnica that jccc posted here.

~~~
piyush_soni
I still don't understand what's special about that design. Again, as the link
says, the only unbroken line is that the front face is made like a rounded
rectangle.

~~~
enraged_camel
>>I still don't understand what's special about that design.

Jonathan Ive said it best: great design looks obvious in hindsight.

edit: Gotta love the downvotes. Must have hit a soft spot. :)

~~~
piyush_soni
So just confirming, you really, REALLY think rounded rectangle was a great
design innovation by Apple God, which now looks obvious in hindsight right?

I love how people think they get downvotes only because they hit some
hypothetical soft spot. :)

~~~
enraged_camel
The rounded rectangle was NOT the design innovation. That's a strawman thrown
around by people who don't understand what a design patent is.

~~~
piyush_soni
It really seems you understand design patents more than many out here. Care to
explain, what does it cover more than the rounded rectangle? (I hope you read
the patent before commenting).

~~~
enraged_camel
Sure, I can do that. Design patents are not the same thing as regular
("utility") patents. They are solely to get exclusive right to the form of a
functional object so that a 3rd party cannot make a different device with an
identical appearance.

What's important is that design patents are really really narrow in scope. A
would-be imitator would have to do their best to copy them _exactly_ (like
Samsung did with their iPhone copycats) in order to infringe. So no, it would
not be enough for a company to have a rounded rectangle device to get in
trouble.

~~~
piyush_soni
I expected it. These are the rhetoric sentences everyone who claims to know
'more' about them seems to be copying on HN, possibly without understanding
the fact that NO ONE is talking about utility patents here. That's why I wrote
that I hope you read the patent before commenting. Contrary to what iPhone
fans would like to believe, most of us DO know the difference. But what you
should know is, (i)They DO sue over design patents. (ii). This particular
patent specifically says unbroken (dashed) lines are not included in the
patent. So the only thing that is the basis of this patent is the rounded
rectangular front shape (which is represented by the unbroken lines, in fact,
that's the whole point of the article, which fanboys don't seem to
understand). It'd have made at least some sense if all the lines were
unbroken. Then THAT would be a design they'd have to exactly copy in order to
infringe. But not with this patent.

------
uvdiv
It's not a rectangle, it's clearly either an iPad or Galaxy Tab. It's a
rectangular slab of particular dimensions/proportions, rounded corners of a
particular curvature, and a 4-sided front bezel of a particular, uniform
width. In combination it's immediately recognizable as an iPad or iPad mimic.

If it were a rounded rectangle being patented, then the patent would look like
this [0], not like that [1]. [0] is not recognizably an iPad.

[0] [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/images/eps-
gif/RoundedRectangle...](http://mathworld.wolfram.com/images/eps-
gif/RoundedRectangle_1000.gif)

[1] [http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/11/D60728...](http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/11/D607286_patent_figure-640x327.png)

full disclosure: I'm not "pro-Apple" in this case, I own a Galaxy Tab 10.1,
and think design patents are a silly thing to enforce.

~~~
piyush_soni
Considering the ONLY UNBROKEN line in the patent, I don't see much difference
in the two images you've shared, except that one [1] is shown in perspective
3D (and some color differences).

~~~
overcyn
Why are you considering only the unbroken line when theres obviously more than
that? The patent is for the entire thing.

Considering just the outline, the nest thermostat is just a circle.
Considering just the first ten minutes, Up is a movie about a couple growing
old together. This isn't a pick and choose thing.

~~~
piyush_soni
It would have been better if before writing all super-intelligent stuff you
had actually read the article or the patent, which explicitly says broken
lines are not included in the claimed design. That's the whole point of that
article.

~~~
overcyn
Guilty.

------
CrankyPants
_Apple's latest iPad-related design patent is literally for the rounded
rectangular front outlined in solid black._

Unfortunate use of the word "literally."

Anyway, this is what a rounded rectangle looks like:
<http://www.enfoportals.com/index_image953.png>

I don't see a third dimension, a button, a connector, a camera, a screen,
speaker holes, and so on.

The current state of patents, design or otherwise, seems to be at new heights
of stupidity. But this article–below the standard Ars usually lives up to,
title, body content, and all–makes me wonder if the thoughtlessness of
discourse on the subject isn't also setting some new records.

------
mkhpalm
The USPTO seems to be focused on moving Silicone Valley to Asia. And the Bay
Area is focused on becoming the next Detroit.

------
Zenst
So does this mean Apple will now be competing in the medical plaster market or
perhaps going back in time to compete with 1920 Rolex watch's or some other
swiss watch maker.

Rounding corners is also staple children toy design mentality and common
health and safty.

Does this mean non Apple tablet will now have to have sharp pointy edges as
from that perspective, this is again another crazy move in the land of common
sence. What next, cars now have to have square wheels as Apple obtains patent
upon compressed rounded rectangles. I think I'm joking but had I read this
upon the Onion I would of laughed, but nowadays the Onion seems too tame in
contrast to actualy happening news, worrying times. I'm now off to sharpen the
corners upon my old collectiuon of CRT based TV's, utterly pointless but it is
the law (sorry joke just had to get out somehow).

------
zerostar07
On a related subject, are rounded rectangles so aesthetic to everyone? I think
they used to be popular in the 50s, and apple revived them with brushed
aluminum, but now we see them all over the web too. They bring to my mind old
CRT televisions which is kinda kitsch imho.

~~~
jccc
Apple revived them with the original Macintosh:

[http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_E...](http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_Everywhere.txt)

~~~
jccc
(Not that I'm saying I like 'em.)

------
Shivetya
Perhaps taken as a whole, with home button at bottom and camera at top when in
portrait could be the extent of what this protects?

~~~
piyush_soni
But the patent explicitly says those things (dashed lines) are not covered in
this patent.

------
monochromatic
I came here expecting a lot of nonsense from people confusing design patents
with utility patents. There's a bit of that, but most comments seem to get it.

Well done, HN. I knew there was a reason I deleted my reddit account.

------
smegel
So what exactly would you expect a design patent for the iPad to look like?

~~~
artsrc
The default in the intellectual property world should be that there is no
protection.

Perhaps the manufacturing process by which the device can be made so thin is
original.

The physical design of the iPad is not original enough to justify any patent
protection, i.e.: none is in the interests of consumers.

It is quite plain, and quite similar to other devices.

------
geetee
All of a sudden Battlestar Galactica paper makes sense.

------
rorrr
There's a ton of prior art, how the hell did they get it?

[http://cdn.overclock.net/8/89/350x700px-LL-890c9df4_lg-
prada...](http://cdn.overclock.net/8/89/350x700px-LL-890c9df4_lg-prada-2.jpeg)

[http://forums.macnn.com/content/type/61/id/4951/width/350/he...](http://forums.macnn.com/content/type/61/id/4951/width/350/height/700)

[http://forums.macnn.com/content/type/61/id/4952/width/350/he...](http://forums.macnn.com/content/type/61/id/4952/width/350/height/700)

[http://forums.macnn.com/content/type/61/id/4950/width/500/he...](http://forums.macnn.com/content/type/61/id/4950/width/500/height/1000)

~~~
sneak
[http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_E...](http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_Everywhere.txt)

------
barista
I bet they could not get a patent for rounded square, or squircle, because
Zune already had it. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zune_Pad>

