Has Apple accidentally revealed their new iPhone and has Apple actually got an iPad 2 design registered in Australia?A search of the IP Australia databases for patents or design applications associated with the iPad 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, following Apple’s recent court case against Samsung Australia, has revealed that in June 2011 patent attorney’s acting for Apple Computer Inc lodged a patent with IP Australia for what appears to be a brand new iPhone.
The patent was lodged 12 months after the launch of the iPhone 4. Executives from IP Australia said “It would be most unusual for any Company to lodge an application for a patent after the launch of a new product. This appears to be for a new product.”
According to documents lodged on the 28th of June 2011 by lawyers representing Apple Computer Inc, the US Company is seeking patent approval in Australia for a device described as a ‘hand held computing device’.
The patent description describes the device as being manufactured from a single sheet of metal.
Apple claims that their application is for a device that is lighter and thinner than previous Apple devices.
Drawings attached to the patent application indicate an iPhone type device that has a bezel edge. The patent application goes on to detail the problems associated with the manufacture of the device.
What is a mystery is why Apple would lodge a patent application for what appears to be a new phone months after the release of the iPhone 4 in Australia.
In correspondence between IP Australia and Freehills Patent & Trademark Attorneys there is a single reference to a design developed in 2009.
Earlier this week Apple Computer Inc commenced Federal legal proceedings against Samsung Australia in an effort to stop Samsung Australia launching their new Galaxy tab 10.1.
During the hearing Apple claimed that Samsung had violated Apple design patents. In the Federal Court yesterday, Steven Burley, a lawyer for Apple, accused Samsung of infringing on 10 of its patents, including the ”look and feel” and touchscreen technology of the iPad.
A search of the IP Australia patents database reveals no design applications for the iPad 2. According to IP Australia a Company cannot lodge a patent for a design. “A patent application has to be made for the working parts of a device not the overall look and feel of a device” an IP Australia executive said.
“If a Company or a person wants to lay claim to a design they have to lodge a design application. This is separate to a patent. Decisions relating to patents or design have to be based on applications made to IP Australia not based on US patents or US design patents” an IP Australia official said.
During the recent application by Apple in the Federal Court, Burley accused Samsung of making representations ”to the effect” that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is in essence the iPad 2. He went on to claim that the Samsung product was a version of the iPad 2.
He said it had the same performance characteristics as the iPad 2 which is made by Apple and was of the same quality and standard.
The Australian dispute relates only to Samsung’s tablets but it is understood that Apple could also seek to restrain the company from selling its smartphones in Australia if US courts find Samsung infringed Apple’s patents.
Justice Annabelle Bennett scheduled a hearing for August 29 to review the status of the case and set a trial date if necessary.
What Apple Computer Inc has lodged with IP Australia is several patent applications for touch screen stack-ups, scaling documents on a touch-screen display, a touch screen liquid crystal display and a new wireless communication system and duel anetena’s for smartphones.
