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Apple Receives Patents For Bezel-Free Display, Touch ID Button Embedded In Screen (9to5mac.com)
Apple has just been granted patents for two of the biggest features expected from the iPhone 8: an edge-to-edge display, and a Touch ID button embedded into the screen. 9to5Mac reports: The edge-to-edge display patent has the rather mundane heading "Reducing the border area of a device." It describes how a mostly-flat display can have a curved border area allowing it to wrap around the sides of the device: [...] "This relates to methods and systems for reducing the border areas of an electronic device so as to maximize the display/interactive touch areas of the device. In particular, a flexible substrate can be used to fabricate the display panel and/or the touch sensor panel (referred to collectively herein as a 'circuit panel') of a mobile electronic device so that the edges of the display panel and/or the touch sensor panel can be bent. Bending the edges can reduce the width (or length) of the panel, which in turn can allow the overall device to be narrower without reducing the display/touch-active area of the device." The embedded Touch ID patent is one of many submitted by Apple, describing different approaches it could take. This one re-uses language from a separate patent granted back in February, describing the benefits of allowing a user to authenticate without having to remove their finger from the screen: "Where a fingerprint sensor is integrated into an electronic device or host device, for example, as noted above, it may be desirable to more quickly perform authentication, particularly while performing another task or an application on the electronic device. In other words, in some instances it may be undesirable to have a user perform an authentication in a separate authentication step, for example switching between tasks to perform the authentication." Apple has been granted a total of 56 patents today. For more information, visit Patently Apple.
Oh man... the US patent system is beyond broken and useless...
How dare it grant patents to a company you don't like!
How dare they patent something their rivals have been doing for 4 years
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
the question isn't whether or not they patent something their rivals have been doing but whether or not the patent was in the approval process before them.
patent applications can take years to grant.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Inventors: Martisauskas; Steven J. (San Francisco, CA)
Applicant:
Name City State Country Type
Apple Inc.
Cupertino
CA
US
Assignee: Apple Inc. (Cupertino, CA)
Family ID: 1000002586884
Appl. No.: 14/445,849
Filed: July 29, 2014
Less than 3 years ago.
When you cant win, ad hominem.