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| Apple patents laptop wedge shape |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-06-07 21:23:26 |
| So, the next venue of patent trolling has just been opened. Apple has patented - quite specifically - the wedge shape of the MacBook Air. Not the general design or impression, no - just the wedge shape. This is interesting, because that wedge shape? Hit prior art in 3.2 seconds: the Vaio x505 from 2004. A wedge-shaped, superthin (for its day) laptop - exactly what Apple's design patent claims the company has invented. |
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| RE: Comment by ilovebeer |
| By Morgan on 2012-06-08 00:53:19 |
|
Where have you been the past few weeks? Thom got off his patent troll tirade a while back; most of the news recently has been Raspberry Pi, Google, Metro, Metro, Metro, Google, and a little Azure. That said, I don't fancy the second installment of Return of the Patent Trolls either. |
 - Score: 3 |
| RE: Whatever happened to the Vaios? |
| By Morgan on 2012-06-08 01:03:38 |
|
I can say from my own experience with Vaio laptops is that, while the specs are top notch and the visual design is usually beautiful and unique, the hardware itself is often prone to failure. From failing SODIMM slots to cooling fans that seize up, to LCD inverters that burn out in a few months (fixed when the industry in general moved to LED backlighting), to keyboards that stop responding... I've had to diagnose and/or repair every one of those issues on Sony laptops over the last eight or so years, the most recent being my sister's old VGN-CS215J that required a new cooling fan a week after it was out of warranty. I realize that my view might be somewhat skewed as I obviously only work on laptops that need work, but with other brands it's almost always a software issue or damage directly caused by the owner, i.e. dropping a laptop on the corner which cracks the screen, or the cat getting on the keyboard and ripping keys off (thanks, Dad). With Sony devices it's almost always hardware failing prematurely. All that said, when you have a Vaio running smoothly in front of you it's computing bliss! |
| - Score: 2 |
| Apple will loose in the end |
| By moondevil on 2012-06-08 05:56:45 |
|
Apple is trying to avoid a second coming of what happened with the company against the PC. These type of tactics won't help in the long run. Apple is no different than Microsoft. Some contributions to open source contributions and a UNIX based OS don't make the company suddenly a better citizen. They only did it, because it was a way to improve their market share. Now that they have enough awareness, they don't care any longer. |
| - Score: 4 |
| ZenBook as well |
| By OSNevvs on 2012-06-08 10:22:18 |
| Asus ZenBooks have a wedge design as well. Most ultrabooks I have seen do. What's next? Apple registering the rectangular shape for computer screens as a patent? |
| - Score: 2 |
| New motto |
| By Soulbender on 2012-06-08 11:03:56 |
| So I guess the new company motto is: Don't innovate, litigate. |
| - Score: 4 |
| RE: ZenBook as well |
| By viton on 2012-06-08 13:58:28 |
| Seems you forgot that Zenbook and ultrabook concept in general came after Macbook Air |
| - Score: 1 |
| proposal |
| By martijn on 2012-06-08 14:39:57 |
|
I propose that every company that claims that a patent of a competitor is not innovative at all, and is proven right before the judge, may choose a patent of its choice from the competitor. If proven wrong, the competitor may have one of his. This will reduce the pile of patents greatly. Edited 2012-06-08 14:45 UTC |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE: Comment by ilovebeer |
| By Beta on 2012-06-08 15:07:20 |
|
> Isn't there more interesting or important news to report than more of this obsessive posting about "patent trolling"? I swear there's more whining about that on here than anything... At least it certainly seems that way. The more patents on basic design elements from a decade a go, the less news we get about new things… because they are all in court, waiting to get approval from a Judge rather than the community. |
| - Score: 6 |
| Prior Art |
| By quackalist on 2012-06-08 16:52:13 |
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Just a mo, does it matter how many computers or the like had a wedge shape...after all, it's a shape like most other geometric shapes known and used in all sorts for millennia. How can one patient a simple shape of anything? Thought...has anyone patented rectangular box computer ;) |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[2]: ZenBook as well |
| By Morgan on 2012-06-08 19:08:40 |
|
Zenbooks yes, but I remember Dynamism.com selling ultrabooks at least a few years before the MBA was even announced. One in particular that I was interested in had a flip-up DVD drive under the keyboard; you lifted the keyboard itself via a latch and inserted a disc. The entire laptop was under four pounds and had a very fast processor/graphics combo for what it was and for the era. And it was wedge-shaped. It was either a Sony or Fujitsu if memory serves. That was in 2006, the year I first heard of Dynamism. |
| - Score: 3 |
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