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Apple Awarded Patent for OS X Dock, Nine Years Later [Apple]
Gizmodo — ... What this means for other dock programs, like Stardock, is unclear. Though Apple can be quite aggressive with its patents, it's uncertain whether Apple would even bother going after generic dock programs. Either way, Apple is no doubt happy to have this one in their pocket after a long, long wait. [USPTO via ...

Apple awarded patent on the Dock
AppleInsider — ... Published: 03:00 PM EST It took nearly nine years, but Apple chief executive Steve Jobs and Co. were awarded this week with a patent for their implementation of a software-based computer dock that has since become a trademark of the Mac OS X operating system. On Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted the Mac maker patent number 7,434,177 titled "User interface for providing consolidation and access." The 20-page filing outlining the principles behind the Dock and its magnification component is credited to Jobs, in addition to well-known Apple ...

Apple Secures Dock Patent
Mac|Life all RSS Feed — dock This week Apple was awarded patent number 7,434,177 titled "User interface for providing consolidation and access" described as: Methods and systems for providing graphical user interfaces are described. To provide greater access and consolidation to frequently used items in the graphical user interface, a userbar is established which includes a plurality of item representations. To permit a greater number of items to reside in the userbar, a magnification function can be provided which magnifies items within the userbar when they are proximate the cursor associated with the graphical user interface. The lengthy patent filing runs nearly 21 pages and it depicts the ideas and actions that make up the dock in Mac OS X including, component ...