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Discussion on:
Apple sues power adapter knockoff maker

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You most certainly can patent looks.
msalzberg 30th Nov 2009
It's called a design patent. From the US Patent and Trademark Office
site:

"A design consists of the visual ornamental characteristics embodied
in, or applied to, an article of manufacture. Since a design is
manifested in appearance, the subject matter of a design patent
application may relate to the configuration or shape of an article, to
the surface ornamentation applied to an article, or to the combination
of configuration and surface ornamentation...The Patent Law provides
for the granting of design patents to any person who has invented any
new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. A
design patent protects only the appearance of the article and not its
structural or utilitarian features. "

The key phrase, and the way it differs from copyright, is "an article of
manufacture." You do not manufacture books, paintings, music, or
software code. They get copyrights.

The patent in question, by the way, is US Design Patent number
D478,310 S.
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