Already patented what?
The simple common sense to put the touchpad a millimeter or two below the palm rest, so that you can type without your palms constantly brushing the sensor surface, rather than flush-mounting it so that the pointer goes zinging across the screen every time you so much as breathe on the keyboard?
Well, that explains why it's been three or four years since I could find a laptop with a countersunk touchpad, I guess...