Apple Glass Trackpad: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a nose for patents. As we reported late last week, the company was awarded 1,136 patents in 2012. This is a big increase over 2011 with 676 awarded patents.
According to AppleInsider, the company is on the move once again. This time around, the patent is related to the glass trackpad used in its Macbook computers.
“Apple on Tuesday was awarded a patent for the design of the glass trackpad atop the aluminum unibody enclosure of its MacBook lineup.”
“U.S. Patent No. D674382, simply entitled Portable Computer, was granted to Apple by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.”
Those who are interested in reading the patent in its entirety can visit this link on the Free Patents Online website.
One of the most interesting facts regarding the patent is the inclusion of Steve Jobs as one of the inventors. According to the official patent, there are several others listed as inventors including: Jonathan Ive, Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De luliis, Evans Hankey, Richard P. Howart, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Douglas B. Satzger, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, and Rico Zorkendorfer.
Illustrations are available via the official patent website, complete with several angles to give a clear understanding of what the inventors are trying to convey.
AppleInsider adds the following regarding the illustrations:
“Apple notes in the patent that the surface of its MacBook computers is “metallic,” and the included illustrations show the company’s existing trackpad design found below the keyboard on a MacBook.”
Although the patent was just awarded today, it has been a long time coming. This was a result of multiple application continuations dating back to 2008. It is interesting to note that Apple refers to one illustration as “our new design,” showing that changes have been made over the years.
The glass trackpad has been in use since its release in the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) MacBook Pro in 2008. According to AppleInsider, this is “when the company ushered in a major redesign with unibody aluminum enclosures. Unlike previous MacBooks that had a dedicated button below the trackpad for clicking, the new MacBook Pro glass trackpad was the first to act as a single physical button and to also understand multi-touch gestures.”
Steve Jobs, along with multiple other inventors, should be proud of this patent. It definitely changed Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) products for the better and continues to be used to this day.
Share your thoughts on this latest patent in the comments section below.
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DISCLOSURE: I have no positions in any stock mentioned.
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