Apple has been granted 11 new patents from the US Patent and Trademark Office, all covering minor and/or existing technologies. These include the Mac OS X Dashboard, the design of the second-generation iPod nano, and an instant messaging-based file-sharing system. The Dashboard patent is dubbed User interface element with auxiliary function and was originally filed for in March 2006.

The Nano patent describes the shape of the second-gen device, which slimmed down the dimensions of the first-gen player even further. The third patent is labeled File sharing using near real time messaging, and elaborated on as "a system and method for providing file sharing using an instant messaging application." Though sharing some similarity with iChat, the technology is here slotted under the name QuickTime Web Conference. The patent application was originally submitted in 1996.