Apple has won several patents from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Patent number 8311988 is for consistent back-up of electronic information. In other words, it's for the Time Machine feature of Mac OS X.

Patent number 8312371 is for a device and method for screen rotation on a touch screen display. This, of course, includes the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Patent number 8312302 for circuits, methods, and apparatus that provide for the powering of active components in connector inserts at each end of a cable may in various ways. This may involve the Lightning connector technology on the latest iOS devices.

Patent number 83118384 for devices and methods for identifying a prompt corresponding to a voice input in a sequence of prompts. This most likely involves the Dictation feature of Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

Patent number 8311657 for a method and apparatus for efficiently accounting for the temporal nature of audio processing.

Patent number 8312024 for a system and method for acquiring and adding data on the playing of elements or multimedia files.

Patent number 8312024 for a recommender system for identifying a new set of media items responsive to an input set of media items and knowledge base marks.

Patent number 8309834 for processor-implemented methods and systems for polyphonic note detection are disclosed. Look for this in upcoming versions of Apple's Logic music editing software.

Apple was also granted three design patents that cover the iPad 2 cellular (D670,692), the iPad Smart Case (D670499) and the animation of an iBook turning a page (D670713).