Apple wins trademarks for the Retina moniker and the Game Center icon design

Apple today received two interesting trademark grants seeking to protect the Game Center icon design and the Apple-coined Retina moniker. The former describes a rounded icon divided into four quadrants, each sporting a distinct combination of colorsĀ and shapes. It was originally filed in June 2012 under international classes that cover multiplayer games, scoring and tracking game performance and “providing an online portal for social networking through virtual communities”.

More important than the Game Center icon is the widely used Retina name, now a registered trademark of Apple, Inc.

As you know, the word “Retina” is a marketing moniker Apple conceived to denote various displays with a resolution so high that the human eye cannot discern the individual pixels.

Currently, Apple incorporates Retina displays into iPhones, iPod touches, iPads and both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models.

Apple was awarded both trademarks on November 27, but they surfaced in the USPTO’s database Tuesday morning, as discovered by the PatentlyApple blog which knows these things inside out.

Here’s the official certification for the Retina trademark, filed under the USPTO No. 4,250,500Ā in May of last year.

It coversĀ the following:Ā Computers; computer display screens; handheld mobile digital electronic devices used as a telephone, handheld computer, personal digital assistant, electronic personal organizer, and electronic notepad computer; handheld mobile digital electronic devices used to access the Internet, electronic mail, digital audio and video, and other digital data.

As for the Game Center icon, it can be found as the USPTO filingĀ No. 4,248,361Ā and defines colors green, blue, light brown, dark brown, brown and white as a feature of the mark.

The filing provides this description.

The mark consists of a rectangle with rounded corners divided into four quadrants.Ā The upper left quadrant depicts a white chess piece imposed on a light brown and dark brown chess board.Ā The upper right quadrant depicts a white baseball and bat imposed on a green grassy field.Ā The lower left quadrant depicts a white rocket in blue starry space with white stars.Ā The lower right quadrant depicts a white dart and white target on a brown cork board.

Apple was recently granted three dozen patentsĀ covering Siri’s mic icon design, Lightning, widgets and what not. iMessage and the Passbook icon are now also registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.

The iPhone maker goes to great lengths to protect itsĀ intellectualĀ property and, for instance, actuallyĀ acquired the “Lightning” trademark from the famous motorcycle vendor Harley-Davidson.

What’s your opinion about this latest Retina and Game Center trademark grants?