Apple on Tuesday was granted a continuation on a design patent by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for the trackpad found in the unibody MacBook Pro. Patent No. D674,382 was first filed March 8, 2012 and granted today, January 15, 2013.
Figures from Apple's Design Patent showing the trackpad in a 13-, 15-, and 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro.
Titled “Portable computer,” the included figures show the trackpad as it fits into Apple’s MacBook Pro, but this specific patent only covers design claims on the trackpad portion itself (the grey area).
The patent is a continuation of several previous patents covering the design of the trackpad, first introduced by Apple with the unibody MacBook Pro in 2008. The first patent in the line covering the trackpad dates back to October 2008.
Fifteen former and current Apple employees are listed as inventors, including the late Steve Jobs and the company’s design guru, Sir Jonathan Ive.
[via AppleInsider]