Apple Gets 36 New Patents

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) 36 new patents Tuesday, effectively covering the gamut in terms of new technology, from proximity sensors to active store packaging and mounted shock sensors.

The proximity sensor patent for the iPhone and iPad was first filed in 2005, and it allows greater detection of and differentiation between light and hard touch gestures. Active packaging will supply power and data to electronic media devices housed inside, by means of a built-in wireless power receiver module. Apple also received a patent for a method of providing haptic feedback within the context of a virtual keyboard.

Mounted shock sensors would allow Apple store technicians to determine whether or not a device has been dropped. Other patents in the bundle included functions like auto-cropping of images, reconstructing lists in a document, and obtaining information about a caller based on a temporary directory number…