Apple's new platforms, iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe provide new app icon & widget styles (details). Is it allowed to reproduce these styles on other platforms without reusing assets?
1 Answer
A visual style cannot be copyrighted per se.
It can be protected by a design patent, but that requires novelty and non-functional elements. Liquid Glass is not novel, and it's explicitly advertised as functional.
It can be trademarked, but the trademarked element needs to be specific and likely to lead to customer confusion. Liquid Glass isn't separately trademarked, and it's not exclusive to Apple's own apps.
In summary: yes, everyone can reproduce this style, on any platform, so long as they don't explicitly copy assets.
Apple also isn't likely to add any protections, because Liquid Glass is specifically made to be used by the public, to make the look of Apple-platform apps consistent. It's possible to create a protected visual style, but Liquid Glass is functional, based on a lot of prior art, and intended for wide distribution.
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I'd appreciate the downvote explanation... I have to work with IP a lot, and if my analysis is wrong, I'd rather learn about it here than in court. Thanks in advance )Therac– Therac2025-10-08 18:54:11 +00:00Commented Oct 8 at 18:54
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Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on Law Meta, or in Law Chat. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.2025-10-09 02:39:27 +00:00Commented Oct 9 at 2:39