Apple has been awarded the design rights for the Siri microphone icon used on the iPhone and iPad since the virtual assistant was first introduced in 2011.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple’s ornamental design patent claim which shows a single line drawing of the floating microphone surrounded by a bezeled circle, and describes the property as the “front view of a display screen or portion thereof” showing the new design.
Apple designer Freddy Anzures and user interface designer Alessandro Francesco Sabatelli are listed as the icon’s inventors. The patent application was first filed on October 4, 2011, the day that Siri was unveiled.
The design of the icon is similar to the distinctive microphones made by RCA, first used in the 1940’s.
