A depiction of Apple's latest patent related to multitouch
(Credit:USPTO )
as the patent battles and bubbles continue to grow, Apple has secured the rights to several more patents of its own.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today published a series of 16 patents now owned by the Cupertino, Calif.-based company, according to Patently Apple.
Here’s a rundown on some of the patents that stand out and where we could see them implemented within the Apple empire:
Some of these have taken awhile to get approved. a few seem rather useless at this point (an iPhone 3G dock?), although they still prevent other companies from using elements of the technology for other devices down the line. we all know how popular that kind of lawsuit is.It’s questionable whether any of these will help Apple in any current legal battles over patents, but it could stave off some competition in the future.
this story was originally published at ZDNet’s Between the Lines.