Apple has been granted a handful of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office involving communications and information sharing.

Patent number 817216 involves techniques for validating and sharing secrets. Per the patent, a secret is divided into a plurality of parts. Each part is represented by a unique value. Each value is distributed to a unique user that shares in the secret. The secret is recreated when each user presents each user's unique value. Each unique value is then used to recreate its corresponding part of the key and when all parts are present and validated, the secret is reproduced. The inventors are Vardhan Itta Vishnu and H.B. Puthali.

Patent number 8170588 is for contact information updating via SMS. Per the patent, a source mobile telephone detects that a telephone number of the telephone has changed to a new number, and in response, sends a text or short message service (SMS) notice message to contacts identified in the mobile telephone to indicate that the source mobile telephone has a new telephone number. In response to receiving the text or SMS notice message, a contact telephony device may update its contact list to reflect the new number. Other embodiments are also described. Phillip George Tamchina, Michael M. Lee and Chad G. Sequin.

Patent number 81701085 involves methods and apparatuses for authenticating electronic messages. In one embodiment, a method includes storing a plurality of domain names, each of which correspond to a portion of a full email address; receiving a first email; determining whether a sender address specified by the first email is within a domain specified by the plurality of domain names; determining whether the first email is authentically from an entity which controls the domain specified by the plurality of domain names if the sender address is within the domain; and presenting an indication of non-authenticity if the first email is not authentically from the entity. Avadis Tevanian Jr. is the inventor.

Patent number 8170194 is for an accessory communication with a media player using a display remote lingo. Per the patent, an interface and protocol allow a media player to communicate with external accessories over a transport link. The protocol includes a core protocol functionality and a number of accessory lingoes. Examples of accessory lingoes include a microphone lingo, a simple remote lingo, a display remote lingo, an RF transmitter lingo, and an extended interface lingo. The inventors are Emily Clark Schubert, Wang Chun Leung, Gregory T. Lydon, Scott Krueger, Paul Phillips Holden, John Archibald, Lawrence G. Bolton, Donald J. Novotney, John Benjamin Filson and David Tupman.

Patent number 8170195 involves media player communication with an accessory using a display remote lingo. Per the patent, an interface and protocol allow a media player to communicate with external accessories over a transport link. The protocol includes a core protocol functionality and a number of accessory lingoes. Examples of accessory lingoes include a microphone lingo, a simple remote lingo, a display remote lingo, an RF transmitter lingo, and an extended interface lingo. The inventors are the same as those of the previous patent.