Over two and a half years after the release of the first iPhone, and 200,000 iPhone apps later, Apple has filed patent applications with the US Patent & Trademark Office to protect three apps (aka mobile applications) which the company has developed for its iPhone.
Published on 29 July 2010, the patent applications claim systems and methods for accessing particular services using a portable electronic device. Copies of the patent applications can be found here, here and here.
The hotel services app, for example, is designed to integrate various hotel services into a single application. Using this single application, the phone’s user can access and control hotel services before and after their arrival and while present in their hotel room. The kinds of services covered by the app include the user’s ability to check-in and check-out, order room service, schedule reminders and control in-room services such as room temperature!
Various commentators in the software, IT and telecommunications industry are critical of the steps taken by Apple to protect its alleged IP in the iPhone apps - a step that it has not taken previously. See this post for example. They are worried about the impact Apple’s strategy will have on other mobile applications developers. However it should be remembered that each of the patent applications are yet to be formally examined by the USPTO and must pass the various hurdles of patentability before a patent can be granted.
From a quick glance over the patent applications, they do appear to be drafted broadly and it will be interesting to see how they are treated by the USPTO in light of pre-existing apps with similar functions and for similar services. The uncertainty created by the recent US Supreme Court decision in Bilski v Kappos also muddies the waters.
If granted, it will also be very interesting to see if (and how) Apple chooses to enforce its patents, and whether the patents will influence the development of other apps by Apple’s competitors.
Apple hasn’t stopped with patents either. In the US (and Australia) the company has also applied to register “There’s an app for that” and “App store” as trade marks. The Australian marks are currently under examination.
This increased focus on IP protection may be paying dividends for Apple. A survey by Millward Brown on the top 100 most valuable global brands, reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, shows that Apple’s brand value increased 32% to US$83b in 2010, making it the third most valuable brand globally. Click here for a copy of the Millward Brown report.
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