I just want to point out that long time Apple watchers would note that Apple used to be very sangiune about it's developments. This far more aggressive Apple was birthed by the advent of Windows 95 and the lawsuits that followed (and preceeded it). I believe that Apple came to the conclusion that a lot of it's work could and would be copied by competitors as MS did if it did not play the patent game.

I have noticed over the years that Apple has been patenting the hell out of things (it could also be that the internet is making such things more transparent) but I don't blame them given the lawsuits that have been sent their way by patent trolls.