White paper bags made of recycled material tend to be flimsy due to the amount of bleach used, so Apple’s come up with a solution 
 
 Apple has patented remotely disabling iPhone cameras. It’s patented Gear VR-style headsets, and watch-controlled photography. It’s even patented the sliding function to unlock the phone – deceased as of iOS 10 – and the concept of a phone with a bezel and rounded edges. 
 
 Now it’s gone one step further, and applied to patent a paper bag. 
 
 
 
 The patent application summarises the bag as follows: 
 
 A paper bag is disclosed. The paper bag may include a bag container formed of white solid bleached sulfate paper with at least 60% post-consumer content. 
 
 Recycled paper bags are not an innovation, of course. The innovation, in this case, is how Apple intends to hold the bag together with such a high proportion of recycled material. White paper bags made of recycled material tend to be fairly flimsy due to the amount of bleach used, so Apple has come up with a bundle of alterations that should help its bags remain both pearly white and environmentally friendly. 
 
 
 
 Those alterations include fancy reinforcements at the folds and gussets of the bag, another one at the bottom that sticks to the sides, and a handle “formed entirely of paper fibre yarn knitted in an 8-stitch circular knit pattern”. 
 
 Sadly the patent application makes no mention of a headphone jack. 

 First released in April, Apple’s iconic paper bag is already beloved by millions throughout the world. But now, the bag is coming under fire. 
 
 Apple’s patent application for its (really very good) bag was published earlier this week and is already drawing hurtful and unwarranted mockery for its elegant and simple language, which includes such koans as "bags are often used for containing items" and "the paper bag may include a bag container." 
 
 Surely (the argument goes) Apple can’t patent the very concept of the paper bag, an object deployed for literally decades with little to no changes. Can Apple’s bag be so revolutionary, so groundbreaking, as to require its own patent? 
 
 The answer is yes. The bag is good, and deserves all the support we can give it. 
 
 "Bags are often used for containing items" 
 
 Part of the confusion comes from the way the patent is structured, starting with the broadest possible statement of the idea and then gradually narrowing. The first claim is simply "a bag container formed of white paper with at least 60% post-consumer content." Subsequent claims narrow that scope, specifying specific adhesives, specific materials and specific construction. 
 
 The real meat of the patent comes in the 35th paragraph, specifying a specific reinforcement system to compensate for the structural weaknesses of Apple’s recycled paper. 
 
 Apple clearly put a lot of thought into this! The same designers on the patent also worked on things like Apple’s magnetic charging system and Nike shoe components so clearly they’re throwing their best minds at the bag problem. And this bag, the result of that labor, is (presumably) the best and most intuitive bag Apple has ever produced. 
 
 What a joyous time into which we have been born! 
 
 Should this patent be granted? I’ll leave the final determination to the patent office. Still, it’s important to note that bag technology has remained stagnant for decades, due in large part to the failure of our legal system to provide robust IP protections for bag research and bag development. 
 
 Without patent protections, corporations cannot retain the benefits of innovation; instead, those benefits fall to the ground as quickly as dongles from a ruptured bag. Denying this patent would stifle bag innovation yet further.
– For those concerned that the latest iPhone wasn't revolutionary enough, the latest Apple patent application to make headlines would seem to indicate that Tim Cook and Co. are truly getting back to basics: It's made out of paper, has handles, and you can put stuff in it. Or, as Apple puts it, via Forbes: It's "a retail paper bag, comprising: a bag container formed of white paper with at least 60% post-consumer content." Yes, Apple is trying to patent a paper bag. Now, to be straight-faced about it, the Guardian notes that it's a very nice paper bag, saying that, "the innovation, in this case, is how Apple intends to hold the bag together with such a high proportion of recycled material." It seems that the bleach involved in producing regular white paper bags out of recycled content leaves them fairly weak, so Apple has added reinforcements and a sure-to-be delightful handle "formed entirely of paper fibre yarn knitted in an 8-stitch circular knit pattern." That'll apparently make it feel extra soft to hold. That doesn't slow the Guardian from bemoaning that "sadly the patent application makes no mention of a headphone jack," and the like. Which inspires a full-throated defense of Apple's elevation of the lowly paper bag over at the Verge: "Apple clearly put a lot of thought into this!" writes Russell Brandom, pointing out that the designers listed on the patent also brought us Apple's magnetic charging system. "So clearly they’re throwing their best minds at the bag problem. And this bag, the result of that labor, is (presumably) the best and most intuitive bag Apple has ever produced. What a joyous time into which we have been born!" Hallelujah. (Here's how that "boring" iPhone 7 brought about Samsung's "explosive" Galaxy Note 7.)