Apple Inc (AAPL): Revolutionary Patent Awards

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has certainly been aggressive in pursuing patents and trademarks over more than 30 years, and many of those patents have been the focal point of many a lawsuit over the years as well. The company has developed a reputation, fairly or unfairly, of being an innovative company, and it has attempted to solidify its reputation with its patent portfolio. A couple of recent patent awards, however, may just be revolutionary instead of just evolutionary.

Could you imagine getting an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) device, like a iPhone or iPad, that doesn’t have holes for a speaker, but instead sends out stereo sound from the screen? How about a screen that senses fingers and provides actual resistance like a keyboard? These are a couple of the concepts that Apple has been working on getting patented, though a couple of the ideas mentioned are not necessarily new but may be advancements on features that were already tried with other devices. However, the flexible-screen technology that has been tried could go to another level with stereo speakers embedded in the screen, and an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) device with a laser microphone – one that does not require special holes in the device to register the sound; and of course, the flexible touchscreen keyboard that provides resistance when it senses fingers – so it acts just like a hardware keyboard.

However, while these patents seem to be in place, the technology still has some time to be developed. There is a chance these concepts could end up in a future Apple device, but likely not in the next iteration of either an iPhone or iPad. But investors in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), like hedge-fund manager Julian Robertson of Tiger Management, can certainly look favorably upon any additions to Apple’s patent portfolio.