Apple acquires 40 major patents in China

Cupertino-based Apple has earned itself as many as 40 patents from the Chinese Patent Office that covers a wide range of patent rights for the company in China. According to a report on Patently Apple, the iPhone manufacturer's products, especially its phones have been victims of piracy in China, and the revelation of fake Apple stores in the country made the issue at hand more urgent. Apple has, firstly, covered a wide expanse of patent rights pertaining to its iPhone. These patents cover several user interface elements from the app dock to different ways of viewing the open productivity folder. Additionally, the patent also covers several phone specific elements like mute, keypad, speaker, FaceTime and icons relating to Game Center, two-camera views and one to playing music.

Apple secures 40 patents in China

Among the other sets of patents secured by Apple, as many as nine pertain to the stylish iPod Nano, and three relate to iAd. Apple has reserved the next four patents for the MacBook Air. Reportedly, Apple has in the first set showcased actual images of the MacBook Air, while the designs in black and white of the MacBook Air were carried in the second and third set. Oddly so, in the fourth set Apple chose to show the MacBook Air in a beige tone. 

The Apple Store in Shanghai (Image credit: retail design blog)

In the last, but the most interesting bit, Apple even has three patents secured for the architecture of Apple's glass store in Shanghai. The first set depicts the Shanghai store's glass architecture design's multidimensional view. The second set, interestingly focused on the glass panels used extensively in the store's design, and the third secures the glass panels, alone.