Microsoft finally receives a design patent for Windows 8 Start Screen

[Windows Central]

Technology moves fast, but the United States government isn?t exactly as quick. Microsoft had originally filed a patent for the Windows 8 start screen in September 2011*(there was some initial confusion at the time on what it meant). The first release of Windows 8 was on October 25, 2012, so in essence, the patent was filled over a year before the operating system appeared on the market.
The design patent itself has just been approved with a stamped date of January 28 2014 ? over two years after it was submitted for approval.

Full story from the WPCentral blog...