Apple 2.0

Covering the business that Steve Jobs built

Steve Jobs' 313 patents

August 25, 2011: 11:21 AM ET

His name appears on a remarkable range of inventions

Source: NY Times

One way to take a measure of Steve Jobs' legacy at Apple (AAPL) is to search for his patents in the database maintained by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Click here to get started.

If you look for patents assigned to either Apple Computer or Apple Inc., you'll get a total of 11,112 titles.

Narrow that search to patents that have Jobs listed as an inventor and you'll get more than 300.

It's is, as Miguel Helft reported in a story written for the New York Times in June, shortly before he joined Fortune as a senior writer, a remarkable list of inventions that ranges from the original Apple II and Macintosh to the glass staircases that grace a number of Apple Stores.

To accompany the story, Shan Carter -- whom Helft describes as "one of NYT's interactive design geniuses" -- created the graphic excerpted above and posted Wednesday at NYTimes.com. It displays thumbnails images of a total of 313 patents (including three from NeXT). Click on any of them and it will take you to full-size drawings and links to the actual patent filing.

It's a lovely piece of work. Click here to explore.

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About This Author
Philip Elmer-Dewitt
Philip Elmer-Dewitt
Editor, Apple 2.0, Fortune

Philip Elmer-DeWitt has been covering Apple since 1982, first for Time Magazine, and now on the Web for Fortune.com.

Email | @philiped | RSS
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