It isn’t exactly rare for another company to copy some of Apple’s exquisitely designed pieces of technology. It’s been happening since the beginning of Apple’s smartphone days. When Apple released the Smart Cover, other companies looked at it with the same envy as they did with Apple’s electronics. Mostly Chinese, the companies produced cheap knockoffs that would often fall apart after light usage.
On the 20th of March, Apple was granted a patent for the magnetic workings on the real Smart Cover. Not the magnetic hinge, but, the magnetic in the right hand side of the Smart Cover that tells the iPad when the cover is on or off of the device. In addition to notifying the iPad of the presence of the Smart Cover, it controls the brightness stages of the iPad’s screen when the cover is lifted.
This doesn’t mean that Apple can pounce upon anyone that uses magnets in an iPad case, but it means that they are one step closer.
Source: Engadget
