OPPO Reno's design allegedly copied in new smartphone patent

LetsGoDigital claims to have found a new patent by the OEM Haipai for a new mobile device. It must be said that a smartphone based on this document would ring bells with OPPO fans. This is because it follows the Reno series in the trend it has set for shark-fin pop-up cameras.

This 'shark-fin' effect is created by a pop-up module (somewhat like those found in the OnePlus 7 Pro or Redmi K20 Pro) that rises out of the top of a device at an angle. The selfie camera is found in the thick edge of the resulting wedge. Therefore, it is just possible that Haipai is impinging on OPPO intellectual property.

On the other hand, it could be argued that, while this new 'shark-fin' is not exactly original by any means, it may diverge sufficiently from OPPO's design and implementation. The module shown in Haipai's patent nearly occupies the whole of the device's top edge, whereas the ones in Reno phones do not. These pre-existing shark-fins also exhibit a curved edge to the thick end, whereas the new variation does not.

On that note, the putative Haipai pop-up module spares a screen that is otherwise bezel-free in a minimal, square frame. The device's corners are equally right-angled, which does admittedly recall another visually conspicuous mobile design: that of the Razer Phones, which is informed in turn by the Nextbit Robin.

Furthermore, the document also shows that it has rounded short edges like those often found in early Sony Xperia handsets. All in all, should this OEM release such a product, it may be received as quite a Frankensteinian creation of a phone.