Apple Wants to Patent Its MacBook Air Design

By Marshall
in Back Page News

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Marshall Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

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.

08NKa.jpg

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.

Source

Proficient

Phantom Spaceman

Posted
Posted

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

  • dr_crabman, Duffydemon and McKay
  • Like 3
Grand Master

Hell-In-A-Handbasket

Posted
Posted

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

Posted
Posted

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

Posted
Posted

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

Community Regular

butilikethecookie

Posted
Posted

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

Posted
Posted

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

Community Regular

dr_crabman

Posted
Posted

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...

  • ahhell and ZakO
  • Like 2
Grand Master

.Neo

Posted
Posted
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.

Community Regular

dr_crabman

Posted
Posted

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

Posted
Posted

"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

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • OpenClaw now has native mobile apps on iOS and Android

      By Karthik Mudaliar · Posted

      OpenClaw now has native mobile apps on iOS and Android by Karthik Mudaliar OpenClaw, the viral open-source personal AI agent, now has its own mobile app, available on both Android and iOS. Users can pair the app with an existing OpenClaw gateway and can start using new mobile-native features that are now available on the app. The app supports all the existing features you'd already have seen on OpenClaw's TUI, as well as some more, such as real-time and background Talk mode, action approvals, sharing from iOS, and optional access to device capabilities such as camera, screen, location, photos, contacts, calendar, and reminders. These features are available on both the Android and iOS versions of the app. What's important with these apps is that they don't run OpenClaw on your phone, but are actually just companion apps that require a running OpenClaw Gateway on an existing device, on macOS, Linux, or Windows via WSL2. To pair the app with your existing OpenClaw gateway, users need to run the command "/pair qr" on the TUI or existing chat interface, which brings up a QR code. Users can then scan this QR code to pair it up with the mobile app. There's also an option to manually pair the app by entering the host and a port. Previously, OpenClaw had been available on phones via WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Matrix, and others. Now, with a native mobile app, the interface is much cleaner and more focused on just the OpenClaw, of course, with the added support for camera, screen, location, and more. It's important to note that OpenClaw comes with its own security warnings. There's always a chance of prompt injection with these tools, so users are recommended to double-check authentication, tool policy, sandboxing, and execution approvals rather than prompts alone. For users well-versed with the AI harness, a native mobile app makes it easier to approve an automation, share a link, use voice, or let an agent react to phone-side context.
    • Google pitches Spanner as one database for all AI agents with these new featues

      By Karthik Mudaliar · Posted

      Google pitches Spanner as one database for all AI agents with these new featues by Karthik Mudaliar Google Cloud is introducing new features within Spanner, its distributed database, as a place where enterprises should keep their data, using which AI agents could make smarter and better decisions. In a detailed blog post, Google highlighted quite a few features coming to Spanner, including relational data, graph relationships, vector search, key-value access, full-text search, and operational analytics together in one database architecture. Google says that today's systems aren't well-made for AI agents. There could be data that is present in one system, search indexes in another, embeddings in a vector database, and relationship data in a graph database. This fragmentation isn't great for AI agents to do their jobs because they don't have access to all of this data in one place. This is where Google is positioning Spanner as a solution. Spanner is already a globally distributed relational database with strong consistency, and Google wants its customers to see it as a broader data layer for AI applications. The company introduced something called Spanner Graph, along with integrated vector search, full-text search, a Cassandra-compatible key-value endpoint, and a columnar engine for analytical queries on operational data. Google also added that its ScaNN-powered vector search can support indexes with more than 10 billion vectors, while the columnar engine can make some analytical scans up to 200 times faster. All of this isn't just exclusive to the Google Cloud Platform, and there's support for multi-cloud as well. This comes via Spanner Omni, which Google says is a downloadable, containerized version of Spanner that can run on Kubernetes and in environments outside Google Cloud, including Microsoft Azure and AWS, and even on-premises infrastructure as well as edge deployments. Google says that customers who are interested in the full-featured edition should contact the company, and there's no word on commercial availability or separate pricing. Those interested can read the full blog by Google Cloud, which details these features individually.
    • Kalmuri 4.2.5

      By Copernic · Posted

      Kalmuri 4.2.5 by Razvan Serea Kalmuri is your all-in-one, portable screen capture and recording solution designed for speed, simplicity, and flexibility. Whether you need a full-screen snapshot, a custom area, a scrolling webpage, or smooth video recording, Kalmuri delivers with ease. Capture text instantly from images with built-in OCR, keep floating images on top for quick reference, and use the precise color picker for perfect design matching. Customize hotkeys to work your way and share results instantly with built-in upload options. Kalmuri runs without installation, making it ideal for USB use, and offers an intuitive interface that’s easy to learn. Kalmuri key features: Video recording support (designation of whole screen and area) Whole screen, active program, window control, area application Extract text from images using optical character recognition (OCR). Support for PNG, JPG, WEBP, BMP, GIF file formats MP4 video recording powered by FFmpeg for high-quality results Full web page capture Share the captured image on the web Color extraction function Printer output Hotkey settings Adjustable via keyboard for area capture (Arrow key, Ctrl+Arrow key, Shift+Arrow key) File name format (sequential, datetime) Free to use it at work, at home, in government offices, at school, etc. Using Kalmuri portable for video recording Kalmuri’s portable version doesn’t include FFmpeg, which is required for video recording. Without it, you’ll get an “error FFmpeg.exe not found” message. To fix this, download FFmpeg from the provided link, extract it, and place FFmpeg.exe in Kalmuri’s folder. Kalmuri will then recognize it automatically, allowing you to start recording in high quality instantly. Kalmuri 4.2.5 changelog: Fixed an intermittent crash when using Area Capture Improved stability for Area Capture and screen recording Resolved a capture issue that could occur right after startup Download: Kalmuri 4.2.5 | 24.2 MB (Freeware) Download: Kalmuri Portable 4.2.5 | 2.1 MB View: Kalmuri Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • WhatsApp is getting usernames, and you can reserve your preferred one now

      By ad47uk · Posted

      I wonder why they decided all of a sudden.
    • WhatsApp is getting usernames, and you can reserve your preferred one now

      By ad47uk · Posted

      They have lots of info on me, I have a facebook account and have done so for years, it was the thing to have then. My phone number is not on it. I don't have the Facebook app on my phone these days, just the messenger part, and only for a couple of people to contact me, most will text me via SMS or phone. I agree, Meta, like others, even without an account will know something about me. Just have to try and keep some things private Also, never saw the need for Whatsapp, people used to ask for me to join it, but as I said to them, I have SMS and a phone, use that, or email

  • Recent Achievements

    • First Post
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      First Post
    • Reacting Well
      Juan Dela earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      Collagen Project earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Reacting Well
      Wakeen1966 earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Rookie
      Almohandis went up a rank
      Rookie

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      516
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      273
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      143
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      54
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!