Apple wins patent for Steve Jobs-designed Fifth Ave glass cube

The iconic Fifth Avenue Apple Store glass cube, which was designed in part by legendary company co-founder Steve Jobs, is now a patented ornamental building design sanctioned by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The patent was officially granted this week, and represents the latest design of the 32-foot cube, which uses fewer panes of glass to achieve a cleaner aesthetic. The simpler look came as a result of a redesign that was completed in late 2011.

Previously, the cube used 90 panes of glass, but Apple sunk an estimated $6.7 million into the 15-pane redesign at its flagship New York City store.

The cube was personally designed by Jobs and is one of the most photographed landmarks in the city. The former CEO even paid for the project himself, and was the owner of the structure.

Jobs is actually credited as one of seven inventors of the structure, and is joined by former retail chief Ron Johnson. The other inventors are Karl Backus, Peter Bohlin, Robert Bridger, Benjamin L. Fay, and James O'Callaghan.

The term of the newly awarded building patent is 14 years. Apple originally filed for the patent in October of 2012.

The all-glass design has even inspired other projects from Apple, including its megastore in Shanghai that opened in 2010. Like the Fifth Avenue store, its entrance is a staircase enclosed in glass, though the one in China is a cylinder. Apple was awarded a patent for its design last year.

57 Comments

philboogie 7669 comments · 15 Years

About 10 years ago

[S]Breaking[/S] breakable news¡

MacPro 19838 comments · 18 Years

As the design enters the realms of history as an iconic, architectural masterpiece, let's dig up the posts from the haters at the time.

pichael 49 comments · 13 Years

Why only 14 years? Surley if you designed it it should be yours for life?

s.metcalf 963 comments · 21 Years

So what does this mean... no one else is allowed to build a glass cube anymore?

This whole patent thing just gets weirder and weirder.

[quote name="s.metcalf" url="/t/182007/apple-wins-patent-for-steve-jobs-designed-fifth-ave-glass-cube#post_2585535"]So what does this mean... no one else is allowed to build a glass cube anymore? This whole patent thing just gets weirder and weirder. [/quote] Odd question; the link is in the article: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/D712067.html But to make it easy for you: Modular building United States Patent 8584404 Abstract: A modular building is produced from base elements that include skeleton structural elements, from which a skeleton structure is formed, and planar elements with at least wall, floor, and ceiling elements attached to the skeleton structure. The skeleton structure elements are detachably connected to each other to form the skeleton structure and the planar elements are detachably connected to the skeleton structure and to each other. A method for producing a modular building that is produced from base elements, with a skeleton structure and planar elements, which include at least wall, floor, and ceiling elements being produced and/or provided as the base elements. The skeleton structure elements are detachably connected to each other to form the skeleton structure and the planar elements are detachably connected to the skeleton structure and/or to each other. Many other issues are explained in the patent. Oh, and they have drawings. Everybody likes drawings. [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/47725/width/500/height/1000[/IMG][IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/47726/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]