Vapor
Rumors of an Apple-branded Tile-like tracking have been circulating for months and just won't go away. Then yesterday references to "AirTags" were found in iOS 13.2. And now a trademark for "AirTag" has been found following some excellent MacRumors sleuthing.
According
to their findings a Russian company filed a trademark application for
"AirTag" in October 2018. The description filed with the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office sounds very similar to what we've been expecting Apple
to announce for some time.
Systems of radio frequency
identification comprised of RFID tags, RFID tag readers, and
downloadable software for operating RFID readers; radio frequency
identification (RFID) labels; RFID tags in form of cards, tags or key
rings; RFID markers in the form of RFID signal receivers; RFID tag
bracelets; RFID tag disks; RFID tag stickers; RFID tag stamps; RFID
printed circuits; RFID tag boles; RFID ear tags; RFID tags in plastic or
glass flasks; RFID tags in the form of keys; flexible cases especially
adapted for RFID tags with a graphic image; RFID readers; blank smart
cards with integrated circuit cards; computer software, recorded, for
maintaining a record of issuance and control of RFID tags; all of the
above designed to allow users to automatically identify them to obtain
keyless access control for interlocking doors, access to various
services, such as public transportation, banking, social events and
various loyalty programs and not designed to work with data loggers
After
some back-and-forth the application was approved in August of 2019. And
on August 28th, the links to Apple started to appear.
On August
28, the same day the USPTO officially served notice that the trademark
application would be published for opposition on September 17, the
attorney on the application was changed to the Moscow office of Baker
& McKenzie, a major law firm that Apple has worked with on a number
of occasions in several countries.
But that wasn't the patent
application's final resting place. Instead, a month later, it moved
again. This time to a Delaware company thought to be a dummy outfit for –
wait for it – Apple.
A month later, on October 1, ownership of
the trademark application was officially transferred to GPS Avion LLC, a
company that was only just created in July 2019 and appears to have no
public presence. GPS Avion was created in Delaware through the
Corporation Trust Company, which is a process Apple has used quite a few
times to create shell companies in order to hide its identity when
dealing with intellectual property issues.
None of this
ultimately confirms that Apple now holds the trademark for "AirTag" but
it does show that someone does. And considering Apple's use of "AirTags"
in iOS 13.2 it's highly unlikely that company isn't related to Apple in
some way.
Given the lack of an October media event, and the fact
iOS 13.2 references the new tracking accessory, we expect to see
AirTags announced soon.
Source:www.imore.com
Author:OLIVER HASLAM
Editor:Vapor