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Apple wins design rights to 4th-gen iPod and Newsstand app icon

Source: USPTO

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday awarded Apple two design trademarks, one for the nearly decade-old fourth-generation iPod and the newer iBooks icon seen in the company's iOS mobile operating system.

Fourth-generation iPod

The fourth iteration of the iPod returned to the successful design stylings of the original iPod, eschewing the four touch-enabled menu buttons for the now-classic "Click Wheel." When the device was introduced in 2004, the unit came in 20GB and 40GB varieties.


Months after the fourth-gen iPod debuted, Apple launched the so-called "Photo" premium model with a color display and bumped capacities up to 60GB. The "iPod Color" followed a year later as part of the normal iPod lineup.

4G iPod

Among those credited as inventors of the design are Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive and veteran designer Chris Stringer.

Newsstand icon

The Newsstand app launched in June 2011 as part of Apple's iOS 5 mobile operating system. Meant to be a repository for all digital subscriptions, the app allows users to purchase and organize magazines, newspapers and other e-publications in one place.

Newsstand Icon

The app's icon uses skeuomorphic design to imitate a wooden bookshelf that fills up with digital magazine covers when subscriptions are purchased and ready for viewing.

Elizabeth Caroline Cranfill is credited as the icon's designer.