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Apple is known as their ability to control every aspect of their product, including their visual design. Apple protects their visual designs, we have heard they sue Dock Application, take down some themes and when iPhone become smart phone of choice of peoples around the globe, Apple has patented some of iPhone’s application icons.

If you love to making icons wether for hobby or commercial, you have to be careful to not to step over Apple’s patent papers. Icons that are patented by Apple are.

Voice Memos

The icons is just a microphone with round corner square.

Compass

Find My iPhone

App Store

Apple Store

Numbers

Those are only some patent icons I found, perhaps there are more of them. If you are an icon designer, read Apple’s patent before sketching out some icons and approved by your client, you don’t want some Apple lawyers knocking out your Inbox and your clients got sued.

I am OK with Apple patented their UX, but patenting an icons is kind of silly. Look at the Numbers icon for iPad, those are fugly as hell. They have to use Numbers icon in order to maintain brand image and save money by not making new patent.