Apple has won several design patents from the US Patent & Trademark Office. Several others have also appeared. Following is a summary of each.
Patent number 7,7645,236 is for a broadband antenna for handheld devices (namely, iPhone antennas). Broadband antennas and handheld electronic devices with broadband antennas are provided. A handheld electronic device has integrated circuits, a display, and a battery mounted within a housing. The housing has a planar inner surface. A broadband antenna for the handheld electronic device has a ground element and a resonating element. The ground element and resonating element may have the same shape and may have the same size. The ground element and resonating element may lie in a common plane and be separated by a gap that lies in the common plane. The plane in which the ground element and resonating element lie may be parallel to the planar inner surface of the housing. Electronic components such as the integrated circuits, display, and battery can be mounted in the handheld device so that they do not overlap the gap between the ground element and the resonating element. The inventors are Robert J. Hill and Ruben Caballero.
Patent number D620,488 is for a handheld portable computing device (the iPod classic). The inventors are Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Steve Jobs, Duncan Robert Kerry, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Douglas B. Satzger, Calvin Q. Seid, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang and Rico Zorkendorfer.
Patent number D620,450 is for a connector design. It’s for MacBook and MacBook Pro connectors. The inventors are the same as those above.
Patent number D620,496 involves a graphical user interface for a display screen or portion thereof. It involves the iPhone camera interface. The inventor is Mike Matas.
Patent number D620,456 is for a remote system. It’s for the Apple Remote Control. The inventors are Jody Akana, Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Jeremy Bataillou, Daniele De Iuliis, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Steve Jobs, Duncan Robert Kerry, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Douglas B. Satzger, Calvin Q. Seid, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang and Rico Zorkendorfer.
Patent number 7,764,326 is for intelligent interaction between a media player and host computer. Improved techniques for interaction between a host computer (e.g., personal computer) and a media player are disclosed. According to one aspect, interaction between a host computer and a media player, such as automatic synchronization of media contents stored on a media player with media contents stored on a host computer, can be restricted. According to another aspect, management of media items residing on a media player can be performed at and by a host computer for the media player. According to still another aspect, media content can be played by a media player in accordance with quality settings established for the media content at the host computer. The inventors are Jeffrey L. Robbin and David Heller.
Patent number 7,765,263 involves a method and apparatus for processing electronic messaages. In one aspect of the invention, for an outgoing message addressed to a mail address of a recipient, the mail client determines whether is an alternative messaging system available to the mail address of the recipient. If there is an alternative messaging system available, the mail client determines whether the recipient’s alternative messaging system is online. If so, the mail client sends the mail message to the recipient via the alternative messaging system. Otherwise, the mail client sends the message via normal mail system. Other methods and apparatuses are also described. The inventor is Jens Peter Alfke.
Patent number 7,764,326 involves a method and apparatus for dynamically locating resources. In one aspect of the invention, a method to retrieve a resource for a digital processing system includes: receiving a request for a resource; downloading a first version of the resource from a server through a network connection to satisfy the request if the first version of the resource is retrievable through the network connection; and loading a second version of the resource from a storage device of the digital processing system if the first version of the resource is not retrievable through a network connection. In one example, downloading the first version is performed in response to a determination that the first version of the resource is different from a second version of the resource on a storage device of the digital processing system. The inventors are Gordon Ross Meyer and Jessica Kahn.
Patent number 7,7645,315 is for time synchronization of multiple time-based data streams with independent clocks. Techniques are described for synchronizing multiple time-based data streams with independent clocks wherein relationships between clock rates of timing devices associated with the time-based data streams are determined, and based on these relationships, times in at least one of the time-based data streams may be translated to times in any of the other time-based data streams despite the data streams having independent clocks. The inventors are James D. Batson, John S. Bushell, Gregory R. Chapman and Christopher L. Flick.
Patent number 7,764,274 is for a capacitive sensing arrangement. Apparatus and methods are disclosed for simultaneously tracking multiple finger and palm contacts as hands approach, touch, and slide across a proximity-sensing, multi-touch surface. Identification and classification of intuitive hand configurations and motions enables unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device. The inventors are Wayne Carl Westerman and John G. Elias.
Patent number 7,764,289 involves methods and systems for processing objects in memory. Methods and apparatuses to create and manage volatile graphics objects in a video memory are disclosed. An object is created and marked as volatile. The volatile object is stored in a video memory of a graphics subsystem. A volatile marking indicates that data for an object is not to be paged out from the video memory to make room for other data. The video memory space occupied by the volatile object is indicated as a volatile storage, in a data structure. Another object is written into at least a portion of the video memory space, which is occupied by the volatile object, without paging out data for the volatile object. In one embodiment, at least a portion of the volatile object is referenced or used while another object is formed. The volatile object may be discarded after being referenced or used to form another object. The inventors are John Stauffer, Michael K. Larson and Charlie Lao.
Patent number 7,765,213 is for an ordered index.A postings list of items containing a particular term are ordered in a desired retrieval order, e.g., most recent first. The ordered items are inserted into an inverted index in the desired retrieval order, resulting in an ordered inverted index from which items may be efficiently retrieved in the desired retrieval order. During retrieval, items may first be retrieved from a live index, and the retrieved items from the live and ordered indexes may be merged. The retrieved items may also be filtered in accordance with the items’ file grouping parameters. The inventors are Wayne Loofbourrrow, John Martin Hoernkvist, Eric Richard Koebler and Yan Arrouye.
Patent number 7,762,817 involves a system for coupling interfacing parts. An electronic device is disclosed. The electronic device includes a first subassembly having a first housing component. The first housing component has an opening. The electronic device also includes a second subassembly having a second housing component. The second housing component cooperates with the first housing component to enclose components of an electronic device. The at least one internal component is also movable relative to the second subassembly so as to properly align with the opening. The at least one internal component is additionally magnetically attracted towards the first housing component near the opening. The inventors are Chris Ligtenberg, John C. DiFonzo, Brett William Degner and John Brock.
Patent number 7,764,493 involves systems and methods for cooling electronic devices using airflow dividers. An electronic device can be provided with a heat-generating component and a cooling module for dissipating heat. In some embodiments, the cooling component may include a fan configured to produce an outflow of air, and a divider configured not only to direct a first portion of the outflow between a first surface of the divider and the heat-generating component, but also to direct a second portion of the outflow along a second surface of the divider. In other embodiments, the cooling component may include a divider and a pressure clip. A first portion of the pressure clip may be configured to exert a pressure on a first surface of the divider such that the pressure may hold a portion of a second surface of the divider in contact with the heat-generating component. The inventors are Ihab A. Ali, Dinesh Mathew, Thomas W. Wilson Jr., and Keith Hendren.
Patent number 7,765,421 is for the automatic power management of a network-powered device. A system delivers power to a powered device through a local area network using a power sourcing equipment to process data of an interconnected network and to receive power from a first power source coupled to the power sourcing equipment. The system may include a powered device coupled at a distance away from the power sourcing equipment through a local area network (LAN) to process the data of the interconnected network through the power sourcing equipment. The powered device may include a modular power over LAN circuit to enable power to the powered device through the LAN when the modular power over LAN circuit is coupled to the powered device. The inventor is Stephen C. Fenwick.
Patent number 7,765,421 is for a user interface widget for selecting a point or range. A technique for selecting and/or displaying an exact point or a range is provided wherein a slider widget comprising a thumb with a left edge and a right edge lying in proximity to the left and right edges of the thumb is provided such that a user may utilize the widget to display an exact point or a range. The inventor is Stephen Cotterill.