The 313 Apple patents that list Steven P. Jobs among the group of inventors offer a glimpse at his legendary say over the minute details of the company’s products — from the company’s iconic computer cases to the glass staircases that are featured in many Apple stores.
Check out the a list of patents after the jump…
Desktop Computers
The patents for computer cases span from the 1980s to the present, including some of the very early Macintosh designs like those in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
iPods
Mr. Jobs’s name appears on 85 iPod and iPod-related patents. Apple introduced these “media players” in 2001 with a chunky box, and the patent for its “ornamental design” appears here.
iOS Based Devices
The iPhone was unveiled in 2007 on a date that roughly coincides with several of these patents, and the file for a “Portable display device” from January 2010 precedes the release of the iPad by about four months.
Laptops
The laptop patents bearing Mr. Jobs’s name usher in an era of sleek, minimalist laptop design at Apple, which has become the company’s ethos.
Oddities
Many of the objects rendered in these filings were never released to consumers, including some of the boxier versions of the iMac G4.
Packaging
Patents here describe several flavors of boxes and plastic cradles for iPods and iPhones.
Keyboards and Mice
The 1998 patent filing for a “cursor control device” strongly resembles Apple’s notorious hockey puck mouse that came with the early iMacs.
Monitors
This series of patents spans cathode ray tubes and early flat-panel displays to Apple’s current, sleek monitors.
Macintosh Operating System
User interface ideas for MacOS, from the Dock to Exposé; some ideas originate from NeXT.
NeXT
Mr. Jobs founded NeXT in 1985, and the company was purchased by Apple in 1996. These patents emerge from this period.
Miscellaneous
This series of patents reveals the wide extent of Mr. Jobs’s design input. Neither staircases nor clasps were out of reach.
Apple TV
Patents encompassing the casing and user interface for Apple’s digital media receiver were mostly filed in 2006.
See full list of patents here…