Apple appears to have previously patented feature from Galaxy Note devices

Apple patented a signature feature of the Galaxy Note series before Samsung used it. It’s the circular menu that appears when Note users hold the S-Pen just above the screen. Apple now has a patent on that interface idea.

Apple has applied for the patent first for OS X devices and now also for iOS devices, notes Patently Apple. The images accompanying the patent show a menu very similar to the Air Command feature that Samsung first showed on the Galaxy Note 3, with a central element in the middle and various features around it, which the user can select by selecting the input means there to drag.

Although Samsung has been using the feature for a year, Apple filed its first patent applications years ago in Europe and South Korea. Apple is not the first with the idea: IBM, among others, has had a patent on such a menu for much longer. At about the same time as Apple, Microsoft has also patented such a system.

Apple and Samsung have been in legal conflict for years; Apple claims Samsung copied design elements and features, while Samsung says Apple uses certain technologies without a license. Although the companies previously fought in dozens of countries, business is now only pending in the United States.