- Apple filed two patents in Singapore early in 2020, relating to drones and their control systems.
- Their filing out of the US and delayed publication suggests Apple may be trying to keep them quiet.
- It could be that Apple is preparing for a big move in the drone market.
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A patent application published last month suggests Apple may be working to develop a drone.
The giant had previously filed two other patent applications, indicating some effort had been made to keep the project quiet.
9to5Mac explained that there are two ways a company can try and conceal patent applications.
It can delay the date that a patent application is made public, and it can submit the application in another country.
It appears that Apple did both these things.
Both of these patents were originally filed in Singapore, according to Patently Apple. The first, which is to do with pairing drones and controllers, was filed in May 2020, while the second, relating to tracking and control of drones, was filed back in March of the same year.
The inventors involved in the project include Alosious Pradeep, head of Wireless Design Engineering; Han Pu, who arrived at Apple from Qualcomm; Javier Ruiz, technical head of Mechanical Engineering; engineers Krisztian Kiss and Vijay Venkataraman, and Srini Nimmala.
“Considering that these are patent applications, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time,” Patently Apple concluded.
A study by Juliana Pavan Dornelles, adjunct professor at the Universidad del Desarrollo and the Universidad Alberto Hurtado, found that “radicalness and the use of in-house knowledge stock are positively associated with the likelihood of a patent application being secret until grant.”
Apple’s apparent attempts to hide its actions suggest it may be developing a markedly new product and is avoiding divulging too much information.
If Apple does have plans and wants to go ahead with them, it will have to compete with other players in the market — one that’s growing quickly.
There are already drones making deliveries and even plans for flying taxis using drones in the near future.
Apple is yet to comment.
