In the West, the most iconic Apple Store is probably the company’s glass cube for its Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York. In the East, however, arguably Apple’s most recognizable retail outlet design is the 30-foot glass cylinder used for both the company’s Shanghai and Chongqing Apple Stores.
As Apple continues its rise in places like China, it is doing everything it can to stop rivals from ripping off its ideas — which is why it filed a design patent on the building, which was published today — naming none other than Steve Jobs as one of its inventors.
Based on the fact that Apple has already recycled the Shanghai store’s design once already, it seems quite possible that the company will use it again in one of the numerous new Apple Stores it plans to open in China over the coming years.
Like the iconic Fifth Avenue Apple Store, the cylindrical Shanghai store design appears empty at surface level, but leads down to a cavernous subterranean retail space.
While entire buildings are certainly tougher to copy than individual smartphones, it still makes sense for Apple to protect its intellectual property; something it has taken so far previously as to trademark the minimalist store layout to try and stop rival tech companies like Samsung from ripping it off.
Source: USPTO
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
