A Look at Steve Jobs' 313 Apple Patents

With Steve Jobs' resignation as Apple CEO yesterday, there have been many reflections on his career and the impact he had on shaping Apple, the technology industry, and beyond. The New York Times takes an interesting perspective on his attention to detail, noting that Jobs has been named as an inventor on a total of 313 Apple patents. Of those, Jobs appears as the lead inventor 33 times.

jobs glass staircase patent
Image from Jobs' glass staircase patent

Jobs' name appears not only on patents for iconic devices like the iPhone but also on a number of less prominent details ranging from the glass staircases found in some Apple retail stores to power adapters to cardboard packaging for various iPod models.

Mr. Jobs appears as the principal inventor or as one inventor among several on 313 Apple patents. Most are design patents that cover the look and feel of a product, rather than utility patents, which may cover a technical innovation like a software algorithm or computer chip.

Still, the number of patents is far larger than those granted to most other technology company chiefs, including those whose technical breakthroughs and inventions were instrumental to their companies’ success. Just nine Microsoft patents carry the name of Bill Gates, who was a co-founder of the company and its chief executive for more than two decades before stepping down in 2000. And little more than a dozen Google patents carry the names of co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, according to a search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office Web site.

The New York Times has put together an interactive feature highlighting Apple patents attributed to Jobs. More than 200 of the patents attributed to Jobs also list Apple design guru Jonathan Ive, indicating the close collaboration between the two in creating the vision for Apple's products.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
Global Close Your Rings Day Pin

Apple Stores Giving Away a Limited-Edition Pin For Free Today

Thursday April 24, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Starting today, April 24, Apple Stores around the world are giving away a special pin for free to customers who request one, while supplies last. Photo Credit: Filip Chudzinski The enamel pin's design is inspired by the Global Close Your Rings Day award in the Activity app, which Apple Watch users can receive by closing all three Activity rings today. The limited-edition pin is the physical...
Apple Logo Spotlight Blue

White House Hits Back at Apple's Massive EU Fine

Thursday April 24, 2025 5:57 am PDT by
Apple's $570 million fine from the EU has triggered a sharp rebuke from the White House, which called the fine a form of economic extortion, Reuters reports. The fine was announced on Wednesday by the European Commission, following a formal investigation into Apple's compliance with the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark piece of legislation aimed at curbing the market dominance of ...
ipad air magic keyboard feature

iPadOS 19 Rumored to Show Mac-Like Menu Bar When Connected to Magic Keyboard

Thursday April 24, 2025 12:09 pm PDT by
When an iPad running iPadOS 19 is connected to a Magic Keyboard, a macOS-like menu bar will appear on the screen, according to the leaker Majin Bu. This change would further blur the lines between the iPad and the Mac. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously claimed that iPadOS 19 will be "more like macOS," with unspecified improvements to productivity, multitasking, and app window management,...

Top Rated Comments

MorphingDragon Avatar
178 months ago
313 patents? That's like Edison all over again..

Yes but Jobs didn't have Tesla to copy off. :D
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jmoore5196 Avatar
178 months ago
One of Steve Jobs' role models was Edwin Land. Land was the second-most prolific inventor in American history after Thomas Edison ... if you've work polarized sunglasses or used a Polaroid instant camera, you used something Land invented.

Jobs actually met Land a couple of times (if there were no other reason, that would automatically make Steve an object of my esteem) and - in my estimation - patterned much of Apple's product development over the past decade on the model Polaroid pioneered some decades before.

The difference: Jobs learned from Land's mistakes. The clear succession path - which did not exist at Polaroid until shareholders forced the issue - is an example. Apple will continue to innovate and be relevant; all of us who use Apple products have good reason to be thankful for Steve Jobs' tenure. He sowed the whirlwind of accomplishment that we'll see in years ahead. I think Jobs is right: Apple's best days lie ahead.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacSince1990 Avatar
178 months ago
Yes but Jobs didn't have Tesla to copy off. :D

No, he had Xerox ;)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nskinsella Avatar
178 months ago
There is no such thing as a "lead inventor"

I've written and prosecuted hundreds of patent applications. You just have to list all the inventors. The order is legally insignificant.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
markcres Avatar
178 months ago
Glass staircase :rolleyes:
Could be a pervert's dream lying underneath while pretty girls in skirts walk up :o
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
razmaspaz Avatar
178 months ago
Pixar mainly creates movies out of Apple software. Moreover, Jobs is no longer owner of Pixar, Disney is.

Uh,
First off no, they don't create movies out of Apple software, they create movies using renderman, maya and a host of other 3D tools that Apple does not produce. They edit them on Final Cut. Additionally the tech that Pixar pioneered would have required a host of engineering and I'm shocked that Steve's name isn't on any of the patents. You think they didn't have to solve complex problems with render farms, 3d shading, digital mapping, or production process? He may no longer "own" it, but he was CEO for a long time. He doesn't "own" Apple either, but that didn't stop him there.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)