Apple has so much experience in denying users of hardware and software supported features that it decided to patent the concept.  The Cupertino giant, whose impressive patent portfolio includes an exclusive patent on mobile multi-touch technology, filed a patent seeking to claim the rights to technology locking users out of features.

Reads the patent's abstract, "Systems and methods for provisioning computing devices are provided. Carrier provisioning profiles are distributed to computing devices via an activation service during the provisioning process. The carrier provisioning profiles specify access limitations to certain device resources which may otherwise be available to users of the device."

The patent goes on to state, "Mobile devices often have capabilities that the carriers do not want utilized on their networks. Various applications on these devices may also need to be restricted."

It should be interesting to see if the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decides to give Apple's overly broad patent a stamp of approval.  Indeed, many cell phone carriers lock their users out of certain features.  While Apple's extreme measures such as iPhone bricking have certainly been newsworthy, it should be interesting to see if their patent-worthy.

It should also be noted that outside the mobile industry locking certain hardware features is an equally established process.  NVIDIA has frequently sold identical hardware on its GeForce (consumer) and Quadro (commercial) lineups, while charging 2-5 times more for Quadros (though clever users have long figured out how to soft certain mod cards to remove the restrictions preventing Quadro driver use on GeForce cards).

Whether Apple gets the patent or not, one thing is clear -- it's likely to continuing blazing ground in making sure that its users don't have access to more features than it and its partners want them too -- even if its devices are capable of them.