Is It Patent Infringement To Reuse Recycled Apple Magsafe Connectors?
AppleInsider has the details of yet another patent infringement lawsuit filed by Apple, who has become a lot more aggressive on the patent front lately. This lawsuit is against Sanho, a company that makes a variety of external batteries for Apple products. There are six patents listed in the lawsuit, but two are design patents, which are pretty narrow. The four (really three) utility patents are • 7,517,222: Magnetic connector for electronic device • 7,627,343 & 7,751,853 (really the same patent, as one is a continuation of the other: Female receptacle data pin connector • 7,783,070: Cable adapter for a media player system All of them, obviously, have to do with the connectors Apple uses to charge its various products, including the famed “MagSafe” charger found on Apple laptops that connect via a magnet, which break away easily (such as if someone trips over the cord). I do remember when this first came out, that Apple indicated it had patented up the technology and would block others
