Oh, patents! Apple Watch band (2)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The flattering Apple Watch bands are all patented. For example, the Modern Buckle band was awarded the US design patent, USD724469S1, titled Band. The patent was granted on March 17, 2015, to a team of 20 inventors: Jody Akana, Bartley K. Andre, Shota Aoyagi, Anthony Michael Ashcroft, Jeremy Bataillou, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, M. Evans Hankey, Julian Hoenig, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Duncan Robert Kerr, Marc A. Newson, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Benjamin Andrew Shaffer, Mikael Silvanto, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang and Rico Zörkendörfer.

The patent Figure 9 is included below, together with a chartreuse-colored model of the Apple Watch Modern Buckle band. The dotted lines on the patent Figure 9 indicate parts excluded from the claimed design. 

As a reminder, a US design patent covers the ornamental aspects of an invention, or how the invention looks. Whereas, a US utility patent covers how an invention works. Thus, the actual magnetic closure mechanism of the Modern Buckle design is unclaimed in this patent. This design patent only covers the way the watch band looks. 

References
Apple Inc. (website)
www.apple.com

USPTO MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent.
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html