Apple [3] has won itself a trademark [4] for its retail spaces, USPTO records reveal. "A clear glass storefront surrounded by a paneled facade," and "oblong table with stools...set below video screens flush mounted on the back wall," now join the floating-glass staircase design that won Steve Jobs [5], a fan of simplicity and rationality in design [6], a patent back in 2003.

We all know just how quick off the mark Apple is at patenting stuff--last year, it was granted a patent to cover the iPad's external shape [7]--and using the patent stick as the beats-all weapon [8] of any inter-tech firm spats. But that the firm now has the paperwork to tell firms just how they can't have Apple-style shops is a huge coup for them. (Hear that, China [9]?)

Are we surprised that Apple is so territorial about its retail presence? Of course not! After all, this is a firm that doesn't talk about the floor space it rents but "the environment we inhabit [10]." For Apple, it sees itself as the architect of this environment, and, given the firm's success at shifting much sought-after gear, both online and in-store, it guards this environment fiercely. The firm has roughly 400 stores worldwide, of which 250 [11] are in the U.S. This is, after all, a firm whose apology in the British press was done in its own style, until the U.K. court of appeals forced it to do it the normal way [12]--that is, in a larger font and using more contrite wording.

But do you think this is a patent too far? Does Apple have the right to tell its competitors--and even non-tech firms--how their stores shouldn't look? Your thoughts?

[Image by Flickr user pingping [13]]