TECH HEAD REVIEW: Apple to launch iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 despite losing patent fight

Apple doesn't do things small, but rumors suggest that it is going to do that small thing again – the next iteration of the its mini tablet, the iPad Mini 2, is set to be launched this fall but not without glitches.

This time, it is the fact that Apple has lost its petition for the iPad Mini trademark. Yes, strange but true.

Despite Apple wresting the iPad’s US trademark fair and square from Fujitsu in March 2010, and securing it from a Chinese court in November 2012 for that country, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has refused to grant Apple Inc. the trademark for the iPad Mini.

Why? Logical question, but one with an answer that can be a little confusing.

The USPTO believes that there have been conflicting trademark applications for the ‘iPad’ by entities such as IP Application Development (whose acronym also works out to IPAD) and others. The USPTO cites a “likelihood of confusion between these marks” for its decision.

In his ruling, the UPSPTO’s examiner claimed that the specimen for the ‘iPad Mini’ as submitted by Apple isn’t valid. Apple has the next six months to contest the ruling, and we have no doubt that it will.

But will it also wait for the next ruling to launch the second iteration of its now-famous iPad Mini? No likely, if rumours are to be believed, with sources claiming that the iPad Mini 2 tablet will be unveiled this fall.

Interestingly, the iPad Mini has managed to generate almost the same level of excitement as the original iPad and iPhone, which is obvious from the fact that we’re talking about the second version of it when it’s just been about six months that the first iPad Mini was launched.

Rumours are rife that Apple is prepping up its supply chain for an iPad Mini 2 with a Retina Display. Citing multiple but unnamed industry sources and Apple’s components suppliers, DigiTimes reports that Apple has slashed its shipments of the iPad Mini to between 10-12 million units for the second quarter of 2013.

“Apple’s cut comes as it is adjusting its reserves for the next-generation iPad Mini, which is likely to be released in the third quarter, added the sources. However, the sources also noted that Apple’s cut is because of increased competition from various 7-inch Android tablets,” the report maintains.

At the same time, Gottabemobile notes that investor and customer “attention is quickly shifting from Apple’s flagship smartphone to the company’s iOS tablets in the form of the iPad and iPad mini. With speculations that Apple may debut its new slate hardware models this fall, investors and consumers are turning their attention to a potential for an iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2…”

A clearer indication of the new tablets is the fact that Apple recently adjusted shipment estimates for its iPad and iPad Mini devices in 2013 to 33 million and 55 million, respectively, according to the DigiTimes sources. Get ready for another round of tablet wars, then, with Samsung too reportedly working on an 8-inch AMOLED display tablet with 1920 x 1200 pixels. According to Sam Mobile, this tablet could officially debut at IFA 2013 in Berlin, and would be the second Samsung tablet to have an AMOLED screen.