Patent

Apple patent details rich Maps layers, new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2013

Apple's Maps for iOS - and now for Macs running OS X Mavericks - still pales in comparison with Google's offering and will continue to struggle for some time until Apple achieves some sort of feature parity.

Google Maps are not only more accurate, they sport more features that put Google's rich data sets amassed in years past to good use.

For instance, Google Maps have long had layers, basically objects that consist of one or more separate items that can be manipulated as a single unit.

Traffic, transit, bicycle, weather, clouds, photographs - these are all map layers.

Apple, too, is working on various layers of information for its digital maps offering, but with a twist, a new patent filing published Thursday has indicated...

Apple awarded new patent for head-mounted display system

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Over the past couple of years, Apple has been filing and collecting patents on inventions involving wearable computing devices. And one of its particular areas of interest is in head-mounted display systems, which it first patented in 2006.

Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office published another patent from Apple that it has just been granted that covers a head-mounted display system. It looks like an Oculus Rift and is designed to enhance gaming, movies and more...

Apple patents smart iDevice dock with always-listening Siri capability

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 5, 2013

An interesting Apple patent application has surfaced in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database on Thursday. Titled 'Smart dock for activating a voice recognition mode of a portable electronic device,' the filing basically describes a smart dock of sorts for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices with a unique feature giving Apple's Siri digital personal assistant a permanent place in your home, with a cool always-on functionality.

Unlike Motorola's Moto X handset with on-device Google Now feature always in the listening mode and responding to the 'OK Google' phrase, Apple's patent relies on a hardware dock providing the listening functionality, with users being able to set a custom audio prompt that will trigger Siri...

Apple awarded patent for Lytro-like refocusable camera tech

Cody Lee ∙ November 26, 2013

A monster 600+ page Apple patent application surfaced yesterday, detailing some of the things it's been working on with Touch ID. It mentions using the sensor underneath the Home button as a trackpad, and even talks about embedding the sensor right into the iPhone's display.

Today, a new invention by Apple has popped up on the web, this time for a patent that it has already been awarded. It's called 'Digital camera including refocusable imaging mode adaptor,' and it details a camera that includes refocusing capabilities—similar to that of the Lytro...

Court denies Samsung’s motion to stay damages in Apple patent retrial

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 26, 2013

As you know, in a retrial last week a jury of six women and two men determined that Samsung owes Apple $290 million for lifting patented iPhone technologies, bringing the total amount of damages to $929 million versus the original $1.05 billion ruling. The South Korean Galaxy maker has immediately filed a motion to delay the payout on the grounds of reevaluation of the validity of the Apple patent No. 7,844,915, which covers the famous pinch-to-zoom gesture.

The presiding Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung motion's last night as she appeared concerned about the potential implications of such ruling, including whether granting a stay would unethically favor Apple...

Apple wins smartphone patent case against California inventor

Cody Lee ∙ November 26, 2013

Earlier this month we told you that California inventor Richard L. Ditzik was suing Apple, claiming its iPhone infringed on one of his patents. Well this week, the Cupertino company won the case against the 70-year-old electrical engineer.

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple was found not guilty of infringing on Ditzik's so-called 'smartphone patent.' A jury in Los Angeles made the call yesterday, completely rejecting the claim by NetAirus Technologies—Ditzik's shell company...

Apple could enhance Touch ID with trackpad capabilities, embed sensor right into display

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 25, 2013

Last week, Patently Apple shed light on an Apple patent filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office which covers the various aspects of its Touch ID fingerprint scanner, a new feature exclusive to the iPhone 5s.

The invention is entitled Capacitive Sensor Packaging and details collapsing the full fingerprint maps into a hashed, encrypted data securely stored on the A7 chip's Secure Enclave. It's curious that the patent's main inventor, Wayne Westerman, developed Multi-Touch technology at Fingerworks, a startup Apple snapped up in 2005.

In another massive 612-page patent application Apple filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization in May 2013, the iPhone maker indicates it's been researching mobile screens with Touch ID embedded, along with trackpad capabilities allowing for panning of on-screen content by moving your finger over the Touch ID Home button...

Apple files for 5 new patents related to Liquidmetal, 3D printing

Cody Lee ∙ November 22, 2013

On Thursday, the US Patent and Trademark Office published five patent applications Apple has filed regarding the process by which it would use Liquidmetal to build next-generation products including smartphones, tablets and digital displays.

Apple has been rumored to be experimenting with amorphous metal alloys ever since it signed an exclusive deal with the California-based company Liquidmetal Technologies back in 2010. But like most rumors, this one has yet to materialize...

The verdict is in: Samsung must pay Apple an additional $290 million

Cody Lee ∙ November 21, 2013

The verdict is in folks. After just a few days of deliberation, a jury of six women and two men reached a conclusion for the retrial between Apple and Samsung over damages, and it's ruled in favor of the iPad-maker. Samsung must pay Apple $290 million.

This is in addition to the damages awarded in the original trial last fall, bringing the total amount Samsung owes up to $890 million. So essentially, Apple won back most of the damages that Judge Koh cut in March after finding the initial verdict flawed...

Appeals court gives Apple another chance to ban Samsung devices

Cody Lee ∙ November 18, 2013

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has vacated Judge Lucy Koh's earlier denial of Apple's request to ban 26 Samsung devices that infringed on its patent. The move will give Apple another chance to permanently halt the sales of these devices in the US.

Now the issue will be sent back to Koh's court, where Apple's lawyers will no longer have to prove that the patented features in Samsung's products were the sole reason for driving sales, but only that there is some connection between the features and demand for Samsung devices...

Phil Schiller says iPhone was a ‘bet the company’ product

Cody Lee ∙ November 15, 2013

As the Apple v. Samsung trial to recalculate the damages Samsung owes continues, Phil Schiller took the stand yesterday. Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing was called up to speak with just 11 minutes left in the session.

But that still proved enough time for Schiller to dish out some interesting details about his role at Apple, and its early days of iPhone development. He said around 100 people worked on what was referred to as the 'bet the company' product...

California inventor gears up for legal showdown with Apple over iPhone features

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2013

"Boy, have we patented it!", quipped Steve Jobs in wrapping up the segment of his January 2007 MacWorld Expo presentation dealing with the iPhone's multi-touch user interface.

Months later, Jobs through the combination of sheer willpower, yelling and F-bombs would impose restrictions on early Android releases.

The goal was to prevent Google's smartphone software from employing multitouch gestures on mobile devices that Apple had been researching for years. The strategy eventually failed, prompting Apple to launch proxy battles against Android backers such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola over prized iPhone inventions.

One guy was unimpressed, though: a California inventor has been claiming for years now that he holds a patent related to an essential iPhone feature. He's not afraid to take the consumer electronics powerhouse to court in order to prove the infringement and seek a five percent cut of Apple's US sales, Bloomberg reported Tuesday...