Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Apple Wins Critical Patent For SIM Connector

Apple’s patent application detailing an implementation of a SIM connector has been approved by the United States Patent and Trademark. The patent describes the construction of a tray that facilitates easy exchange of SIM cards and has measures in place to prevent accidental damage to the card.

Apple’s mechanism, as we’ve all seen in our iPhones and iPads, involves a SIM tray with a metallic pin that acts as a tool to help eject the tray. SIM cards can be inserted by pushing the tray into the designated slot with a little force, and ejected using the metallic pin. Additionally, Apple also describes damage prevention measures added to the connector in cases where the SIM card isn’t inserted properly.
Apple Wins Critical Patent For SIM Connector


To keep the patent as broad as possible, Apple has, in addition to iPhones and iPads, also included laptops, netbooks and other media devices in the application.

The patent win comes after Apple successfully got its nano-SIM design approved as a standard with the ETSI. Although a significant patent for Apple, this is unlikely to play much of a role in the legal spats, since standard owners are generally obliged to license their patents on reasonable terms to other parties.
For the entire patent application, head over to USPTO’s website.

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