Apple patent the round-cornered rectangle *sigh*

Oh Apple. You’ve really outdone yourself in the petty patent stakes with this one haven’t you? After months of debating whether or not such a patent should even be allowed, the Cupertino tech company now hold the patent for rectangles with rounded corners.

What. A. Joke.

The US Patent and Trademark Office accepted Apple’s claim based on the design of the first iPad, with Patent no. D670,286 defined by the thick black line in the image above, which outlines the curved-edged perimeter of the device.

It’s such a broad patent that it seems almost pointless to pursue it; it’ll be near impossible to police, not least of all because of its usage on prior arts grounds.

But still, with Apple and Samsung raging away in the courts as we speak, we wouldn’t put it past the iPad makers to pull this one out of the bag in a fix.