14 DAY TRIAL // Last month, Apple was granted a rather important patent by the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office). Now, we learn that, as suggested by previous speculation, tensions have risen due to the possible threat of Apple lawsuits against manufacturers of similar products.
By all accounts, the U.S. patent D661,296 covers a very broad category of PCs, that of wedge-shaped laptops.
Apple uses the design for its Macbook Air, but its patent application isn't quite what we'd call specific. In fact, the document sticks to fairly broad descriptions: “gray shading on the electronic device represents a metallic-looking surface” and “the relatively light gray shade lines on the surface portions indicate contour and not surface decoration.”
The significance of having been granted the patent lies in how the Cupertino company can now sue all companies that make wedge-shaped ultrabooks.
That means most OEMs. Should a new patent war start and end in Apple's favor, ultrabooks might actually be banned from the US soil altogether.
In order to discuss preemptive measures, Taiwan's PC brands and laptop manufacturers will meet with local government officials (Apple hasn't yet made a move against them).
According to Focus Taiwan, Acer, ASUS, Compal and even Foxconn will participate in the gathering.
“We should share our information with Taiwanese vendors in case Apple takes action against them,” said Wang Mei-hua, director-general of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Intellectual Property Office.
The situation is dire enough to warrant this sort of meeting because the US market accounts for most of Taiwan's ultrabook exports.
There are two main paths that the companies above can take. One is to come up with a new design, or tweak the existing one enough to circumvent possible litigations. The other is to file an opposition to the validity and applicability of the design patent.
Regardless, there is no way PC makers will just up and abandon ultrabooks at this point.