Apple Wants to Patent Its MacBook Air Design

By Marshall
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Grand Master

Marshall Veteran

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Hold on to your hats: An expanded patent application for the wedge-shaped aesthetic of the MacBook Air passed through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today.

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The patent is for a portable computing device with a ?wedge shaped top case? and a lid pivotally connected to the base via a hinge. Apple claims that the design contributes to the user?s impression of a device, its lightness, and its durability.

Components like a high-speed memory card and its connector are expressly designed to fit inside the unique shape of the device, which we better know as the MacBook Air.

Apple files for design patents relating to pretty much all of its products, and even goes so far as to patent the design of its stores. Although the company doesn?t always wield patents as weapons, Apple has gone after competitor Samsung for copycatting the design of the iPad in its Galaxy Tab tablet.

So could this mean that Apple is beefing up its patent library to wage war against the onslaught of ultrabooks heading our way? It could certainly be a step in that direction. There are now nine MacBook Air-related patent applications that have been lumped under this latest continuation, simply titled ?Portable Computing Device.? If granted, Apple could theoretically use its patent to sweep Intel-based MacBook Air lookalikes off store shelves.

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Phantom Spaceman

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not any more anyway, meaning that ship has sailed and it's too late for Apple to get this patent :)

Yup nothing like it since Apple shipped the first air right?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20020535-64.html

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Grand Master

Hell-In-A-Handbasket

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didn't apple get the design from intel's ultrabook design? or was it vice versa? because every ultrabook out there looks like a macbook air clone...

MacBook air has been around since before the iPad 1, same basic design.

But I don't agree with patenting the look of the air itself. But on same token, i think Dell has patents on the look of their Alienware series

Grand Master

.Neo

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If they applied for the patent when it was released, then it would make sense...but they didn't

While obviously very nice and minimalistic looking I don't think the MacBook Air's outer design is that special to begin with.

But yeah, if what you're saying is true it does seem a bit weird they're coming up with this only now. :/

Grand Master

Rudy

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didn't apple get the design from intel's ultrabook design? or was it vice versa? because every ultrabook out there looks like a macbook air clone...

Ultrabook came a few years after the MBA and pretty much copied it.

Do I think they should get a patent though? No

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butilikethecookie

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They should! In 2007 (08, 09?) when this first came out, how many computers did you see that looked like that?

Answer: None.

Put yourself in their shoes: You spent millions of dollars investing and creating the design wouldn't you want to be the only company that sells that? Hell yeah you would!

No: I'm not an Apple fanboy...I use Windows 8....Just getting that out of the way now to avoid confusion :)

Grand Master

Duffydemon

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They should! In 2007 (08, 09?) when this first came out, how many computers did you see that looked like that?

Answer: None.

Put yourself in their shoes: You spent millions of dollars investing and creating the design wouldn't you want to be the only company that sells that? Hell yeah you would!

No: I'm not an Apple fanboy...I use Windows 8....Just getting that out of the way now to avoid confusion :)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20020535-64.html

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dr_crabman

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Their article is wrong though. The MBA was first released on January 29, 2008 not 2010.

"particularly Apple's 2010 incarnation" They didn't write that the first Air was released in 2010.

In all honestly the Sony one looks pretty different. They share the basic notebook folding design but that's about it.

Of course there are differences but there were differences between the iPad and the Galaxy Tab which didn't stop Apple from suing and using Photoshop to make the two products look more similar...

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Grand Master

.Neo

Posted
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Of course there are differences but there were differences between the iPad and the Galaxy Tab which didn't stop Apple from suing and using Photoshop to make the two products look more similar...

The similarities between the iPad and Galaxy Tab are/were an infinite times bigger compared to the MacBook Air and Sony Viao you posted. Especially considering how tablets/slates used to look before the original iPad parts started leaking out.

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dr_crabman

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The similarities between the iPad and Galaxy Tab are/were an infinite times bigger compared to the MacBook Air and Sony Viao you posted. Especially considering how tablets/slates used to look before the original iPad parts started leaking out.

Bigger? Okay, yes. Infinite? No way. And the iPad is another case where there were designs beforehand that looked very, very similar.

Grand Master

Hell-In-A-Handbasket

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"particularly Apple's 2010 incarnation" They didn't write that the first Air was released in 2010.

Of course there are differences but there were differences between the iPad and the Galaxy Tab which didn't stop Apple from suing and using Photoshop to make the two products look more similar...

The Air came out around 2008' that Sony design is from 2004 apparently. So Sony still wins by 4 years.

As far as galaxy and photoshop, can't photoshop something IRL in court, where Samsung's people couldn't tell the difference themselves

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