Apple wins patent for first iPhone, designed by Jobs & Ive

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple a patent for the design of the first-generation iPhone, released in 2007, and created in part by Steve Jobs and Jony Ive.

Patent


Apple on Tuesday was awarded U.S. Patent No. D672769, entitled "Electronic Device." Illustrations accompanying the design patent show Apple's iconic first-generation iPhone, which was introduced with much fanfare by Jobs, then the company's CEO, in 2007.

The first iPhone featured a two-tone back that was mostly made of aluminum ? a design element that the company would return to this year with the release of the iPhone 5 with a predominantly metal back. Apple's interim devices opted for different materials: The iPhone 3G and 3GS had plastic backs, while the iPhone 4 and 4S backs were made of glass.

The basic design of the first iPhone, which shook up the smartphone industry with its finger-driven touchscreen, remains very similar to this day. Every iPhone model has featured a home button on the bottom of the screen and earpiece up top, with mute and volume controls on the left side, a lock switch on the top right, camera on the back, and speaker, microphone and data/charging port on the bottom.

The first iPhone was introduced by Jobs at the Macworld expo in January of 2007. It eventually went on sale in June of that same year.

Patent


Since then, the hype for each new iPhone model has only grown, and Apple's sales continue to break records. To date, the company has released one new iPhone model per year, and this year's model was the first to increase the screen size from the 3.5 inches seen on the first-gen model to 4 inches on the iPhone 5.

In addition to Jobs, the company co-founder, and Ive, Apple's lead designer, the following individuals are credited with the design of the first-generation iPhone: Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De luliis, Richard P. Howarth, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Douglas B. Satzger, Calvin Q. Seid, Chirstopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, and Rico Zorkendorfer.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    I had one of those!
  • Reply 2 of 47
    That phone still feels better than any other phone I've held. What a great start to the smartphone revolution.
  • Reply 3 of 47
    Fandroids will be tearing their hair out! Rounded rectangle patented by Apple! Hold-on while I get some popcorn.
  • Reply 4 of 47
    I saw a guy a couple months ago with a 1st Gen iPhone. Glass was cracked. The back had a few dents and a lot of scratches but it worked just as good as my 3GS.

    Apple builds quality products that others can only DREAM of achieving.
  • Reply 5 of 47


    Immediately invalidated.

  • Reply 6 of 47
    I had one of these and it remains my favorite design out of all of them. It just felt great. I would buy one on eBay but they are just too slow doing anything but basic tasks.
  • Reply 7 of 47
    Just a note: the patent covers the design of the metal ring around the phone, not the phone itself.
  • Reply 8 of 47
    And let the flamewars begin about why the so called 'isheep' should have book palm treos or blackberries at the time….
  • Reply 9 of 47


    When people accuse Apple of copying other phones, all you need to say is "remember 2007? When the iPhone started the whole smart phone revolution?".

  • Reply 10 of 47

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by storneo View Post


    When people accuse Apple of copying other phones, all you need to say is "remember 2007? When the iPhone started the whole [touchscreen and mobile app] smart phone revolution?".



    Fixed that for you. 

  • Reply 11 of 47
    clemynxclemynx Posts: 1,552member


    That design is beautiful indeed. I've always imagined what it could look like if the screen took all the space in front.


    Something like this...


    I don't care where the ear-piece is, they could just work their magic!


    image

  • Reply 12 of 47
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GadgetCanada View Post



    Fandroids will be tearing their hair out! Rounded rectangle patented by Apple! Hold-on while I get some popcorn.


    Let's the lawsuits commence.   Lawyers, START YOUR ENGINES!!!


     


    Hey Lawyer, Lawyer,  SUE Lawyer, Lawyer!

  • Reply 13 of 47
    storneo wrote: »
    When people accuse Apple of copying other phones, all you need to say is "remember 2007? When the iPhone started the whole smart phone revolution?".

    To which the usual suspects will reply "but, but, but Google bought Android in 2005!"

    AS IF.
  • Reply 14 of 47
    I was using my first gen iPhone until replacing last year with the 4s. It was still working but I wanted to get the better camera, and latest iOS.
  • Reply 15 of 47
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Fixed that for you. 

    What an excellent display of your lack of recognitive and memory skills.

    People went crazy over the iPhone just because of these two things, did they? A touch screen interface and a mobile app system that didn't actually exist on the first version?
  • Reply 16 of 47


    Ha. Thanks!

     

  • Reply 17 of 47
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member


    Quiz time: How many know why Apple products begin with an "i"?


     


    First right answer gets a . .  ummm. . . well. .  .


    I guess nuthin except props for being the first to answer.


     


    EDIT: Soli, Jragosta, you guys didn't know?


     


     


     


     


    If you're impatient or give up, the answer is here in the first 30 seconds:


  • Reply 18 of 47


    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    If you're impatient or give up, the answer is here in the first 30 seconds:



     


    Tricky tricky.


     


    image

  • Reply 19 of 47
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member


    deleted

  • Reply 20 of 47
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member


    deleted

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