Apple has been granted a patent for the design of its iconic glass cube Fifth Avenue retail store, reports Patently Apple.
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The decision comes four years after Apple applied for a trademark related to the store's design, which is still currently pending. The panted granted today was originally filed on October 15, 2012 and credits eight inventors including former Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Apple's Fifth Avenue store opened on May 19, 2006 and was designed by architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. Due to a structural overhaul that took place in 2011, the location currently uses 15 panes of glass as opposed to 90 used in the original cube. The renovations on the newer cube also did away with nearly all of the hardware that previously held the original panes together, resulting in a "seamless" design.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Only apple could/would patent a storefront
If I'd designed and engineered it I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want anyone else copying it too.?!
They patented a glass cube?!
Seriously?!
I call plagiarism: http://www.wikiart.org/en/larry-bell/glass-cube-1966#supersized-artistPaintings-288973
Oh dear, someone doesn't understand the difference between an idea and an implementation..
By your logic Star Trek owns pretty much everything technological that has come out in the last 30 years, and also the next couple of decades too.
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No it's not. Stop making things up. You cannot compare a store to a tourist attraction, its a store. And the reason why there are so many people sitting around next to it, is because its the only place on 5th ave where you can easily sit down and eat (except central park),
According to Forbes, it's the most photographed site in NYC.
Which is crazy. Of all the things to do in New York...
It's normal for tourists to visit architectural icons in cities they visit. People visit cathedrals too, but it doesn't mean they have to convert.