Details extend down to colors

Apple has filed for a US trademark on its most common retail store design, documents show. Several key elements are made apparent through an attached photo and a diagram, including the exterior's stainless steel border around a glass entrance. Inside, the trademark would apply to advertising displays on walls, the Genius Bar, and even the layout of wooden tables used to host demos of Macs, iPods, iPhones and iPads.

Of note in the application is a claim that "the mark was first used at least as early as 09/00/2006, and first used in commerce at least as early as 09/00/2006." The date coincides with the opening of the Mall in Columbia Apple Store in Maryland, which was the first to use the steel-and-glass facade along with steel interior walls and backlit advertising. Apple now employs many variants on this design, not necessarily covered by the proposed trademark, such as the Upper West Side outlet in New York City, which has an arched glass roof and no steel border.

by MacNN Staff