JOBS’ PATENTS

By the time of his death, Jobs’ name was associated with well over 300 patents logged with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Listed sometimes as the sole patent-holder and at other times as one of a team, his portfolio encompasses everything from computers and iPods to packaging and power adaptors. He even registered two patents for the design of the glass staircase synonymous with the Apple Store. But arguably the most important of all his patents – if only for the fact that it marked his arrival on the tech scene independent of Woz – was patent no. D285.687: the Mac.

This meticulous attention to patent logging reveals that Jobs never underestimated the importance of protecting his intellectual property. While he may have aligned himself with Picasso as a keen borrower of great ideas, he clearly had little desire for others to profit on the back of his own. Inevitably, he became involved in a number of patent disputes. Indeed, at the time of writing, the validity of the so-called ‘Steve Jobs patent’ that covers much of the touchscreen technology upon which the iPhone relies was under review by the USPTO.

Nor was every patent Jobs logged a classic. For every Mac, for instance, there was an iMac puck – the fatally flawed mouse design that never really took off. But ultimately the secret of protecting intellectual property is not waiting around to see which of your barnstorming ideas is going to turn into a money-spinning game-changer; it is about protecting your brainwaves so that you can benefit from those that ultimately reveal themselves as winners. It only takes one or two hits for the world to forget about your misses.