Andy Barnes![](\"https://photos2.insidercdn.com/images/patent-genie-small.gif\")
Apple issued patent for interface design effect in Mac OS X.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday granted Apple Computer with a patent for an "ornamental design for a user interface for computer display."
Otherwise known to Mac OS X users as the "genie effect," the feature presents the illusion that application and Finder windows are shrinking into the system dock when minimized by the user.
The document credits the original design to Bas Ording, an interface developer who has endured a lengthy term at Apple working directly under the helm of Steve Jobs.
Apple filed for the patent in February of 2002, two years after the company first introduced Mac OS X and the Mac OS X Dock to the world.
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
34 Comments
Someone should just patent matrix multiplication and get the whole thing over with.
Someone should just patent matrix multiplication and get the whole thing over with.
This is indeed a ridiculous patent. This is very disappointing coming from Apple.
Don't blame Apple, blame the flawed system.
If you can copywrite a logo, I think this is perfectly sane. As the patent said, it's ornamental. It's not like patenting the concept of binary.
This is indeed a ridiculous patent. This is very disappointing coming from Apple.
I disagree. I think Apple should patent everything they do. I'm tired of Microsoft stealing Apple's inventions. You can bet that if Apple didn't patent this, we'd be seeing Genie effects in Longhorn.