Australian Patent Office v Apple Inc: Time For Another Bite At Patenting Fancy User Interfaces

Overview: Time Display

On 20 August 2018, the Australian Patent Office gave Apple Inc. another chance to patent a fancy way of displaying time on iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch devices. The Patent Office had initially rejected Apple's patent application on the basis that it was directed to an aesthetic, rather than technical, development, which is not the kind of thing that patents protect. The Patent Office has now reconsidered its approach, and has given Apple a further opportunity to demonstrate that it has indeed made a technical advance, before it reaches a final conclusion on Apple's patent application.

The Patent Application: Context-Specific User Interfaces

In June 2015, Apple filed Australian standard patent application no. 2015298710, entitled "Context-specific user interfaces". It identifies Apple's Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive, as one of the inventors.