The Devil's Advocate - Apple Receives Patent for Pentagon-Shaped Buttons [TMO Scoop]
by - May 25th, 2004
Apple filed for a patent application on a "User Interface for Computer Display" on June 4, 2002, which was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as US Design Patent No. D490,440 S on May 25, 2004. This patent is a division of an application filed on January 4, 2000.
Here's what it looks like:
 Sketch included in the patent application |
It's basically a design patent on pentagon-shaped close-minimize-expand buttons in a window title-bar. In a previous article I highlighted other shapes, like Jolly Rancher squares, that were also considered by Apple.
This is not an exciting patent. It's mostly of interest to show how many other designs Apple considered before settling on the gum-drops in the window title-bar and that Apple is really developing quite a fortress of patents around its user interface.
is an attorney. Please don't hold that against him. This work does not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of The Mac Observer, any third parties, or even John for that matter. No assertions of fact are being made, but rather the reader is simply asked to consider the possibilities.
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