The US Patent and Trademark Office granted Samsung a new design patent recently, one that’s related to a new notebook-tablet hybrid. This model has the display snapped into the keyboard in a vertical setup, this time.
It’s unclear if this is an Android device or a Windows device, since the patent only reads “Notebook Computer”. Patently Mobile first discovered the design under US design patent number D706,259. That looks very much like the ASUS Transformer Pad series, but hey, I’ve seen at least 3 products that ASUS could have sued for copying their designs and yet they didn’t. Either they don’t like lawsuits, or don’t have the patents for their designs.
We’ve seen companies copying their PadFones and Transformer Pads and still nothing. Anyway, back to Samsung, we can’t really say they’re innovating here, unless they come up with a very original hinge, which is something we always welcome with open arms. A battery inside that dock also wouldn’t hurt…
