Apple patents MacBook Air design

[Grenage]

"The Macbook Air is a mere 1.3mm thick!" (at its thinnest edge).

I can't wait for Apple to sharpen the thinnest edge so it's like a razer blade, and then proudly advertise that their computer is "a mere 5 microns thick!".

Just don't drop it.

[mutley89]

Apple patents MacBook Air... Swell! I'll just patent Air. I wonder why anyone haven't come up with that one before.

According to an update to the linked article, the patent covers only the front rubber feet of the laptop, which seems even more ridiculous. However it's a design patent, which I think is distinct from other patents, and covers appearance rather than functionality.

Seriously, if the same kind of extremely loose patents had been allowed 80 years ago, Ford would have patented the car and the Wright brothers would have patented the plane. To stifle competition was never the intention of patents in the first place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wri...ers_patent_war

Effectively, they did. US plane development pretty much ground to a halt as a result. Patents have been stifling competition for a long time. It's just got worse since the US courts decided that algorithms and design choices could be patented.