patents

A new Apple patent application for iPhone reverse charging has been published today, further boosting speculation about when the Cupertino company will finally offer the wireless power sharing capability.

The application describes another possible application for the technology: placing two iPhones back-to-back to enable one to charge the other …

Apple gets caught up in all kinds of controversy, from antitrust issues to advertising, but one of the stranger ones concerns the company’s involvement with The App Association.

A piece this morning claims that the company exerts significant influence over a body designed to represent developers, when their interests may be at odds with those of the App Store owner …

The iPhone 14 notch is set to be replaced by a “pill and hole-punch” design on the Pro models, while the base models will keep the familiar notch design – but in a smaller size. In both cases, Apple has somehow managed to squeeze all the necessary components into a smaller space.

A newly published Apple patent application may well explain the simple approach used to achieve this …

Update: Apple has today extended this patent with additional claims, which Patently Apple suggests is intended to better protect the invention. This doesn’t necessarily make it more likely that Apple will implement additional gestures, but it seemed a plausible possibility at the time, and the update certainly indicates continued interest by the company.

There could be more Apple Pencil gestures in store for future generations of the company’s iPad stylus. We saw the first of these in the second-generation device, in the form of a double-tap to quickly access tools …

In the latest bizarre twist to the patent infringement battle between Apple and Ericsson, the Cupertino company has responded to the iPhone ban in Colombia by claiming that its human rights have been infringed.

The company requested emergency relief in Colombia just days after being warned by a US judge not to abuse the court system there by filing emergency requests for non-emergencies …

Update: Patently Apple notes that the patent has now been granted.

We noted recently an Apple patent application showing a curved iMac design where the all-in-one computer is made from a single slab of glass.

We now get a clearer idea of how such a machine might look…

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Apple has been granted a patent for an emergency communication system, designed to extend cellular coverage to areas that would otherwise have no signal.

The approach is intended primarily for law enforcement and emergency services personnel, and it’s possible that the tech could have saved the lives of first responders inside the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Another week, another patent troll suing Apple for alleged infringements of patents purchased for the sole purpose of filing lawsuits.

Sonrai Memory has filed similar infringement claims against a wide range of other tech companies, including Google, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, and Western Digital.

The Apple Ericsson patent battle jumped to a new level yesterday, when the first iPhone sales ban went into effect in Colombia. Now Apple appears to be set on obtaining an injunction against the import and sale of Ericsson products.

The specifics of the move are a legal first for the company, made possible by its billion-dollar acquisition of Intel’s modem business back in 2019 ….

Ericsson has been seeking an iPhone sales ban in multiple countries due to 5G patent infringements, and has now succeeded in obtaining the first of these, in Colombia. The ban applies to the iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPad Pro models with 5G capabilities.

Apple is of course fighting the injunction but has been accused of double standards for objecting to three separate legal tactics that it has used itself in the past …

Apple has today been granted a patent for an AirPods safety feature which could detect when a wearer is at risk. AirPods could respond by pausing or lowering the volume of your music, to enable to you concentrate on the potential danger.

The patent also describes a possible smart workout mat, which would detect how safely or effectively you are exercising …

See the update at the bottom of the piece.

The iPhone 15 was expected to be the first lineup to use an in-house Apple 5G chip instead of the Qualcomm ones used in current models. A recent report suggested that this won’t be the case because Apple has hit problems with the design, but a new analysis suggests that this is only half-right.

Which is to say, there is a problem with the Cupertino company’s attempt to dump Qualcomm in favor of an Apple modem chip, but it’s a legal one, not a technical one …

Ericsson’s 5G Apple patent infringement claim has now reached its sixth country, with the latest filing in the UK’s High Court. The Swedish telecoms company is trying to obtain import bans on iPhones in the US and elsewhere as it piles on the pressure for Apple to reach a settlement.

One patent expert says that “the noose is tightening” on the Cupertino company, as it is looking increasingly likely that Ericsson will succeed in obtaining an iPhone injunction sooner or later …

Apple is continuing to imagine what a future MacBook would look like with Apple Pencil support. The tech giant has applied to revamp a patent today regarding an Apple Pencil that is removably mounted above the MacBook’s keyboard.

Apple is once again experimenting with ways to integrate a camera into the Apple Watch. According to Patently Apple, the company’s latest idea is to put a camera into the digital crown. With this, users can snap a photo on their wrist by pointing the digital crown toward the subject.

We last year saw an Apple patent showing that the company was exploring the possibility of creating a titanium iPhone, iPad, and MacBook – and another one has been granted today.

Specifically, today’s patent grant describes a process for creating a textured surface on titanium, and one of Apple’s illustrations depicts an Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, and MacBook …

Apple is asking a court to prevent future patent infringement claims from someone who appears to be a Face ID patent troll.

California resident Chian Chiu Li last month filed a patent infringement against Apple, then last week withdrew the complaint without explanation …

Apple will not get a third trial after receiving a $300 million verdict for patent infringement from Optis. Apple told the court last year it’s entitled to a new damages trial or Optis’ damages should be wiped.