[keanzu]

Good point. Clay at no point used the word "invent" - that was entirely me. My rather rudimentary understanding of law means that prior art would invalidate any patent. Had Clay published his design when he claimed to have built the device (Dec 2014) it would seem to have rendered Apple's patent worthless, or nearly so.

A patent is a form of intellectual property protecting an invention. An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition or process.

If it was a invention worthy of patent in March 2015 - according to Apple - then it was an invention worthy of patent in Dec 2014, when Clay claimed to have devised and built the device.