Apple Granted Important Touch Display Patent

The US Patent & Trademark Office has published two new patents recently granted to Apple, according to MacNN.

The first generally relates to a passive cooling system designed for portable devices and the second patent generally relates to user interfaces, and in particular, to user interfaces that use touch-sensitive displays and include an interface reconfiguration mode.

Although it's evident that Apple's granted patent covers the iPod touch and iPhone - as the patent figures prove out, the fact remains that the patent actually covers "any portable electronic device." This of course would extend to any future ebook or touch based netbook that Apple may be planning for later this year.