fyi...

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...D504,889?tMoJk

http://www.macobserver.com/article/2005/05/10.18.shtml

Apple Computer was granted a patent for an enigmatically titled
"Electronic device" Tuesday, May 10th, 2005. Illustrations for the device
clearly indicate it to be a tablet-style Macintosh, and patent filings
specifically compare it to the "HP Compaq Tablet PC" and several other
tablet machines.

The patent was filed on March 17th, 2004 (first broken by The Register in
August, 2004 as noted in the comments), and granted by the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as US Design Patent No. D504,899 on
May 10, 2005.

New in the issued patent is an illustration that demonstrates and confirms
that the device is a handheld device with a touch screen.

On Tue, 10 May 2005 23:04:48 -0700, kilmerr5******.com (Christopher
Coulter) wrote:

>Apple Computer was granted a patent for an enigmatically titled
>"Electronic device" Tuesday, May 10th, 2005. Illustrations for the device
>clearly indicate it to be a tablet-style Macintosh, and patent filings
>specifically compare it to the "HP Compaq Tablet PC" and several other
>tablet machines.

For clarity, note that this is a design patent, not a utility patent.
A utility patent is what most people think of as "a patent"; a design
patent is just what the name says, a form of protection for a
product's design, rather than for an invention.

It's reasonable to to in for that they will produce the device that
they have patented, but not that there will be anything radically new
about it.

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.

And it is a touch screen? PDA, too? 8-)
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"Jonathan Sachs" <xxxxxxx@earthlink.not> wrote in message
news:26r381l8u589rqg46mcm8euorceodtfnt4@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 10 May 2005 23:04:48 -0700, kilmerr5******.com (Christopher
> Coulter) wrote:
>
>>Apple Computer was granted a patent for an enigmatically titled
>>"Electronic device" Tuesday, May 10th, 2005. Illustrations for the device
>>clearly indicate it to be a tablet-style Macintosh, and patent filings
>>specifically compare it to the "HP Compaq Tablet PC" and several other
>>tablet machines.
>
> For clarity, note that this is a design patent, not a utility patent.
> A utility patent is what most people think of as "a patent"; a design
> patent is just what the name says, a form of protection for a
> product's design, rather than for an invention.
>
> It's reasonable to to in for that they will produce the device that
> they have patented, but not that there will be anything radically new
> about it.
>
> My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.

On Wed, 11 May 2005 06:59:44 -0700, "Chris H." <winxpnews********.com>
wrote:

>And it is a touch screen? PDA, too? 8-)

I can't tell. Design patents don't SAY anything -- they consist
essentially of drawings.

In this case the drawings were tied up in proprietary Apple software
so that I couldn't see them without installing a bunch of plug-ins
that I didn't want. (I rebelled when I couldn't figure out how to
install the necessary software without installing something for an
iPod along with it. That was a learning experience. I never realized
that the PTO allowed patent applicants to play games like that.)

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.

I looked at this patent at work today, where the computer apparently
had whatever bit of software is necessary to view it. The drawings are
line drawings without a lot of detail. The "device" looks like a slate
machine with dimensions about 9x6x3/4 inches. Apart from the display,
the only visible feature is a circular spot on one side which probably
represents the power connector.

One drawing shows a person holding the computer in one hand and using
it with the other. It indicates that the screen is touch-sensitive
rather than stylus-sensitive. However, I won't rule out the
possibility that Apple will produce a stylus-sensitive version too, or
a device that allows both types of use.

My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.