Samsung filed a patent at the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) with registration number 30-0928968. The patent was filed in late 2016, registered on October 25, and finalized on November 1. Along with the patent notes, there are also designs for a new smartphone, which state that the solid lines in the patent images, as shown below, are the portions of the design that have been registered. The patent notes also claim another manufacturer cannot make a similar shape of this design for their smartphone, which applies.
The design’s specific shape is confidential so that other manufacturers don’t apply it. The materials listed on the patent are synthetic resin and metal. Interestingly, the of is only eligible if the shape and materials are identical. There is no mention of the placement of parts like speakers, sensors, 3.5 mm jack, charging point, and camera. The patent applies to the oval-shaped physical button but not to the physical power button and volume rocker.
We don’t know whether the device patent is for already released smartphones like Samsung Galaxy S8 or Note 8 or for future devices like foldable smartphone Galaxy X or Galaxy S9. Still, the patent is filed under the designation “Items to be designed,” which points it to the direction of a device yet to be released.
Earlier this year, we saw a patent at the Korean Intellectual Property Office that showed an S8-like design. Still, the patent was filed before Samsung announced the Samsung Galaxy S8 in December 2016. But the thing is, Samsung is one of the top smartphone manufacturing companies in the world, with a research division that files patents daily, and hundreds of them get approved annually. However, only a tiny fraction of these patents get to production.