ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,216,851, issued on Feb. 4, was assigned to Apple Inc. (Cupertino, Calif.).
"Multi-directional texture based input device" was invented by Travis N. Owens (Lakeway, Texas), Daniel J. Bechstein (Pacifica, Calif.), Jeremy A. Bagnol (San Jose, Calif.), Daniell Dokko (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and Supratik Datta (Saratoga, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Electronic devices can include a textured exterior surface that is used for controlling functions associated with the electronic device or another electronic device when an object moves along the textured exterior surface. In some examples, the textured exterior surface can be a multi-direction...