October 8 - 10:00pm EDT   Apple has finally obtained a patent on the Dock – a holder for open or commonly used applications, documents, folders, and more in Mac OS X – according to a new document found by AppleInsider. The patent, titled "User interface for providing consolidation and access," was originally filed on December 20th, 1999, and covers actions such as fade-in rates, icon and cursor positioning, as well as the magnification factor when the cursor hovers over icons present in the dock. [full story]

June 3 - 5:10pm EDT   Sena Cases has announced four new slim designer notebook cases made specifically for the MacBook Air. Styles include the patent-pending Pullino Designer Case for the MacBook Air and the LeatherSkin Case which offers an ultra-slim design, and allows the device to be fully functional without removing the notebook from the case. All the cases are designed from Italian Napa Leather. The Senna Pullino Designer Case for the MacBook Air features pull-out strap for easy release of the MacBook Air and includes velvet lining to protect the device from scratches and damage. It's priced at $240. [full story]

May 9 - 11:45am EDT   A federal judge has reinstated one of two dismissed patent disputes against Microsoft and Dell from French-American telecommunications partnership Alcatel-Lucent. CNN Money writes that the San Diego district court made an error when deciding the definition of a "terminal device", so the case is being presented again to the federal court system. The dispute is situated over a communication protocol that allows a computer and a device to exchange information. [full story]

April 26 - 2:20pm EDT   Apple may be looking to license haptic technology from another company, as the industry looks to develop and incorporate more touch feedback technology into devices. Immersion Corporation, a patent-driven digital technology company, has reportedly hired a former Apple executive and has had talks this week to license the haptic technology for in Apple's iPhone. On Thursday, Immersion Corporation announced that it had appointed former Apple executive Clent Richardson to the position of President and CEO and a new report claims that Apple this week began talking to Immersion about a potential licensing agreement for its technology. [corrected] [full story]

April 23 - 12:25am EDT   Sony is making movement to finally unveil Socratto, its in-house answer to Apple's Shake software, which it acquired from then-startup Nothing Real. A European patent application indicates that Sony is close to realizing its long-discussed video effects software, after ironically losing control of the Shake project when members of the company who worked on the project were hired by Nothing Real. The move comes after Tim Schaaff, a former senior Apple executive, joined the effort in 2006. [full story]

April 18 - 2:50pm EDT   It appears Samsung is trying to leapfrog the iPhone's touch display and go straight to a touch-free interface in its future mobile phones. The company has reportedly filed a patent for an interface based on hand signals. The phone's integrated camera will recognize users' hand gestures as commands and execute them. [full story]

April 11 - 8:40pm EDT   In response to the ruling against the Dish Network, the company writes that it is disappointed with the court's rejection for an appeal, but that it will not affect current or future customers. According to the note, EchoStar has already developed and deployed a new version of the DVR software to customers as an automatic download. Dish claims the new software does not infringe on patents held by Tivo Inc. [full story]

March 31 - 10:20pm EDT   The US Patent and Trademark Office today published Apple's trademark application concerning the icon for the upcoming iPhone/iPod touch application store. The logo, which is displayed in almost every piece of documentation related to the developer's program, will be present on all iPhone and iPod touch devices when the service officially launches later this year. The design resembles Apple's traditional application icon – the stylized letter "A" constructed from a paintbrush, pencil and ruler. [full story]

March 12 - 11:10pm EDT   ZapMedia Services is suing Apple over its iPod-iTunes concept, claiming it had invented the process two years before the first iPod was sold. According to AppleInsider, the original ZapMedia has since closed its doors. ZapMedia Services is enacting the lawsuit on behalf of the former company, which comes 18 months after it began to shop for investors. Until recently, ZapMedia Services held on to but a single patent, and now carries two. [full story]

March 12 - 9:25pm EDT   In response to Apple's chiding remarks regarding the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard launch – urging Microsoft to "start their photocopiers" – the Redmond-based software and electronics giant has applied for a patent to Cover Flow-style OS interface. The patent states that the idea revolves around "stacking data wheels" and is primarily designed for mobile environments, potentially the Xbox 360, according to an analysis of the patent by MacNN [full story]

February 13 - 11:45am EST   Apple has filed for a patent that could retrofit its Spaces feature for use with Front Row and Apple TV. The application, filed on January 7th, is the second patent revealed on February 7th relating to a potential future feature set for Apple TV. One block diagram shows an example of an architecture for generation and use of spaces in a display environment, interfacing with an operating system and Expose. [full story]

February 7 - 12:40pm EST   Apple has filed for a patent describing expanded Apple TV/Front Row functionality, including live iChat and broadcast TV programming as part of potential future Front Row features. The filing illustrates a process for associating widgets with content displayed by a multimedia center application, with one example revealing a yet unreleased version of Front Row and/or an Apple TV remote that includes a new set of Widget Keys. [full story]

January 31 - 6:15pm EST   The US Patent and Trademark Office today published 11 of Apple's patent applications. Among the 11, a patent regarding AAC audio bit allocation, as well as one pertaining to hierarchical menus stand out. Apple has presented a concept for perceptual audio encoding, a bit allocation technique that is designed to reduce the size of a file by finding a perfect balance of quality versus compression. While Apple is developing the process to apply it to AAC, it could also be applied to MP3, AC-3, and WMA media formats. [full story]

January 24 - 4:30pm EST   Apple has filed two more patents related to its touch screen technology, which follow a patent filing discovered earlier today. The new patents, titled 'Touch pad for handheld device' and 'Techniques for interactive input to portable electronic devices' cover scrolling features found in a touch pad as well as techniques for providing user input to interactive multitasking environments. [full story]

January 23 - 6:50pm EST   Apple has been slapped with yet another patent infringement lawsuit regarding the iPhone. This time the plaintiff is Minerva m owner by assignment of United States Patent No. 7,321,783 (the "783 Patent") entitled "Mobile Entertainment and Communication Device," which was issued on January 22, 2008. In other words, as soon as the patent was issued, the suit was filed. The suit alleges that defendants Apple and component supplier AtlanticRT have been and now are directly infringing, and indirectly infringing by making, using, offering to sell, or selling the iPhone which is covered by one or more claims [full story]