Apple has been granted patents on three Apple Watch bands, just a few days before pre-order customers are due to start receiving their watches, reports Patently Apple. The three patents cover the Sport Band, Classic Buckle and Link Bracelet, and are simply listed as “the ornamental design for a band, as shown and described” …
Apple had already been granted a patent for the Modern Buckle that the company apparently sees as a women’s band, as it is available only for the 38mm watch.
While the Link Bracelet is currently only on sale in stainless steel, Apple has given solid gold versions to celebrities, including designer Karl Lagerfeld and singer Beyoncé.
The rest of us should start receiving our Apple Watches from the 24th, some seeing their credit cards charged and their order status switching from ‘processing’ to ‘preparing for shipment.’ An estimate of pre-order sales yesterday suggested that Apple may by then have sold 3M watches, generating $2B in revenue.
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Will be interesting to see how this impacts the off brand Apple Watch bands/adapters that are starting to show up in the market.
How exactly is the classic buckle patentable? I get how the sport band might be patentable (never seen that design before) and the link bracelet for its little buttons that allow for tool-free adaptability, but the classic buckle is… well… classic. How can they patent it?
I think in spite of the closing mechanism being well known, the critical part to patent is the insert into the watch case and release system.
oh, that makes sense, but then why patents on the three specific bands and not specifically on the insert/release system? :s
This patent is vague as all the other patents lol. The insert and release mechanism is unique to Apple but the fact that they don’t only focus on that but the entirety of the band shows that this patent is too vague. Lately the patents are purposely designed this way so that, if necessary, they can start suing the heck out of other companies lol.
I ordered the 42 mm stainless steel with black leather classic buckle at 12:02 AM PST. They did a temporary authorization on my credit card on Monday and changed my status to “preparing for shipment.” Now it’s end of day Wednesday, and they still haven’t actually charged my card (still a temporary authorization) and they haven’t changed my status to shipped. I’m losing hope that it will arrive Friday, but I guess there’s still a chance…