Apple fails to patent iPod interface

Apple has failed to patent its iPod software interface, following three-year-long patent application process, which could allow its competitor to build similar-style GUIs for their own MP3 players. AppleInsider reports that the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final rejection for Apple's patent application, which lists Apple vice president Jeff Robbin and Apple chief executive Steve Jobs as two of its primary inventors. "Standing in Apple's way appears to be a prior filing by inventor John Platt, who submitted a patent application for a similar software design for a portable device in May of 2002 -- just five months before Robbin submitted his claims on behalf of Apple."

Filed under: iPod