This should not be fucking patentable. It's a fucking notification LED.
No it's not. Apple is patenting a logo, with on top of that an electronically controllable tint/haze/opacity/mirror, with on top of that a dialectric stack to make a thin-film interference filter, and on top of that a transparent layer.
A notification LED satisfies the same end-goals, sure. But patents aren't about end-goals; they're about how the device is constructed. The construction that Apple is proposing is completely unrelated to LEDs.
Stacking things which exist on top of each other and putting it in the shape of an Apple logo is not a patentable invention. So it may be unrelated to LEDs, but it sure as heck is still related to the topic.
Stacking things which exist on top of each other and putting it in the shape of an Apple logo is not a patentable invention
It is patentable if stacking things on top of each other creates an effect that wouldn't be obvious, or if stacking them on top of each other is something that is difficult to do and not obvious. And it would have to be obvious _before_ you read about it.
No (Score:5, Insightful)
This should not be fucking patentable. It's a fucking notification LED.
Re: (Score:2)
This should not be fucking patentable. It's a fucking notification LED.
No it's not. Apple is patenting a logo, with on top of that an electronically controllable tint/haze/opacity/mirror, with on top of that a dialectric stack to make a thin-film interference filter, and on top of that a transparent layer.
A notification LED satisfies the same end-goals, sure. But patents aren't about end-goals; they're about how the device is constructed. The construction that Apple is proposing is completely unrelated to LEDs.
Re: (Score:1)
Stacking things which exist on top of each other and putting it in the shape of an Apple logo is not a patentable invention. So it may be unrelated to LEDs, but it sure as heck is still related to the topic.
Re:No (Score:2)
Stacking things which exist on top of each other and putting it in the shape of an Apple logo is not a patentable invention
It is patentable if stacking things on top of each other creates an effect that wouldn't be obvious, or if stacking them on top of each other is something that is difficult to do and not obvious. And it would have to be obvious _before_ you read about it.