(Published in 2019)  – “According to the latest estimates from IDC, Apple shipped 4.2 million Apple Watch units during the quarter ending in September (2018) for a 13.1% share of the global market. The figure, up 54% from 2.7 million units shipped during the  same period last year, was good enough to put Apple in the No. 2 spot behind Xiaomi. Though Apple launched a redesigned Apple Watch Series 4 with larger display and advanced health monitoring features last quarter, it was the Series 3 that accounted for a majority of its wearable sales. A slate of new features delivered alongside watchOS 5 and a reduced price point stoked demand for the year-old smartwatch, IDC said.” Apple Watch Series 4 is protected by patents, trademarks, and copyrights. We make no claim to these, and we are in no way associated with Apple Inc.

There are many patents on the Apple Watch. One patent (10,296,047; May 21, 2019; by Apple Inc.) details the following:

“A case for an electronic device comprises a body defining an interior volume configured to receive the electronic device therein. The body comprises a user input region formed from a deformable material having an electrical resistance that decreases in response to a touch force on the deformable material. The body further comprises an electrode pair in contact with the deformable material and configured to be operatively coupled to a sensing circuit configured to detect a change to the electrical resistance of the deformable material due to the touch force.

The body further comprises a connector configured to operatively couple the electrode pair to the electronic device.

An electronic device comprises a display device forming a front surface of the electronic device, a sensing circuit, and a housing forming a back surface of the electronic device opposite to the front surface. The back surface comprises a user input region formed from a quantum tunneling material, where the sensing circuit is configured to detect a change in an electrical property of the quantum tunneling material in response to a deformation resulting from a touch force of a user input.

A wearable electronic device comprises a housing, a processing unit within the housing, and a band coupled to the housing and configured to couple the wearable electronic device to a user. The band comprises an input region formed from a touch-sensitive material. The touch-sensitive material is operatively coupled to the processing unit, and the processing unit detects a deformation of the input region based on a change in an electrical characteristic of the touch-sensitive material.

An input device for an electronic device comprises a first layer comprising a first touch-sensitive material, and a second layer comprising a second touch-sensitive material disposed below the first layer. An electrical resistance of the first and second layers changes differently in response to application of a force to the first layer.”

The first claim of this patent (the words that embody the invention) includes:

“1. A case for an electronic device, comprising: a body defining an interior volume configured to receive the electronic device therein; a user input region having an area comprising: a first layer of a first deformable material having a first hardness; and a second layer of a second deformable material positioned below the first layer and having a second hardness that is different from the first hardness, wherein a touch force on the user input region causes an electrical resistance of the first layer to change by a first amount and an electrical resistance of the second layer to change by a second amount different from the first amount; and a connector configured to operatively couple the user input region to the electronic device; a first electrode pair in contact with the first deformable material and configured to be operatively coupled to a sensing circuit configured to detect a change to the electrical resistance of the first layer; and a second electrode pair in contact with the second deformable material and configured to be operatively coupled to the sensing circuit configured to detect a change to the electrical resistance of the second layer, wherein the user input region is at least partially surrounded by another area greater than the user input region area formed from the first or second deformable material.”