Jailbroken iPhone makes its way into iPhone patent application

Quincy Pince-Nez
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March 28, 2009
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We generally try to avoid Apple's patent applications.  They have little to do with what end up as final products and they are about as exciting as Apple's lawsuits.  That isn't to say there aren't some interesting ones.

This one certainly falls into this category.  Apple's recent application for biometric security on iPhones had the following image (Via Engadget):

Yep, that's a jailbroken iPhone with the Installer.app and the SMBPrefs jailbroken app drawn by the patent artist.  Hilarious! Apple's lawyers Kramer, Levin Naftalis & Frankel have broken the law - in accordance with Apple's interpretation of the DMCA as it relates to Jailbreaking - and could be sued by themselves on behalf of Apple.

 

Comments (13)

Lewis Dorigo (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 8:38am

Have a look at the settings, iTunes, Photos, notes, and clock icons. They're all different from the current iPhone. Also, there's no iPod icon, which could suggest a unified iPod/iTunes app. Also, there's a "screenshots" icon there too.

Either the artist doens't own an iPhone/iPod Touch, he's an idiot, or he's leaked some stuff about iPhone 3.0 that's not in the developer's beta ;)

Lewis Dorigo (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 8:39am

I kinda missed seeing the "Music" icon... So there goes my unified iPod/iTunes app theory...

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 8:58am

did you miss the music icon?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 9:52am

Ever consider that Apple might be trying to subtly patent Jailbroken iPhones? Think of the irony: you Jailbreak your iPhone, and Apple sues you for patent infringement.


Actually, it's quite brilliant... in an evil sort of way.

km2 (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 9:53am

I think the image on the left has jailbroken apps as well. The icon third row on the right is the jailbroken flashlight which can actually control brightness unlike the iTunes ones. Any other non-iTunes apps recognised there?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 6:10pm

omg not really its not "flashlight" like you say .... want to know what it is? .... Limewire hehe j/k you O.o :P

Mark (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 10:11am

Given that these are clearly not real screenshots, I think folks may be reading in a bit too much conspiracy.

There's one with a twitter icon called Thincloud, Settings, which looks like a Mac mini, and something that looks like a guitar called TTR. Other images show "Terminal" and other generic terms.

In other words, the guy making the images probably just threw in a bunch of names he may have come across. In Sep 2007 (when the patent was filed), there weren't a lot of apps (remember, no SDK yet) -- so they probably went with generic names.

In fact, you won't see a lot of the iTunes apps because the document was filed before any apps were available.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 10:51am

I know the developer that did FiveDice (2nd pic, 4th column, 2nd row)!!! Shout out to Chris!! Great game and let's see more BattleAtSea updates!!

Steve Jobs (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 11:43am

Stop lying, no one believes you

HennessyLane (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 1:02pm

Look at the Background its has a Background

Olly (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 1:18pm

hehe... the thing we all missed, that no one is making a fuss about, lol. tbh, the patent was made before the SDK (as pointed out above) and maybe Apple didnt have a name for the App Store yet so just called it Installer (pretty generic really). Anywho, less fuss over nothing please :-)

hdtv antenna (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 3:52pm

I just don't understand why Apple hasn't allowed free reign over customization that jailbroken iPhones offer.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | March 28, 2009 - 7:15pm

This also looks like it came from the 1.x firmware. Wasn't the ability to take screenshots introduced in 2.0 (or even earlier), making the third-party screenshot app obsolete?