This week Apple was awarded patent number 7,434,177 titled "User interface for providing consolidation and access" described as:

Methods and systems for providing graphical user interfaces are described. To provide greater access and consolidation to frequently used items in the graphical user interface, a userbar is established which includes a plurality of item representations. To permit a greater number of items to reside in the userbar, a magnification function can be provided which magnifies items within the userbar when they are proximate the cursor associated with the graphical user interface.

The lengthy patent filing runs nearly 21 pages and it depicts the ideas and actions that make up the dock in Mac OS X including, component magnification, which is credited to Steve Jobs. Other well known Apple interface gurus, Bas Ordering and Donald Lindsay, are also credited with the docks creation.

The dock has been an integral part of OS X since its introduction in 2001, and it is one of the most used items in the operating system's user interface. The dock gives users a centralized and customizable starting point to launch applications and documents from.

The dock has faced some controversy over the years as changes have been made to it. Most recently, Apple's replacement of the black triangle indicator under an open application with a light-blue orb in Leopard. 

While the patent does not give Apple carte blanche control of all docking technology, it does solidify it's grip on the ability to display names as a user cycles through the dock icons and the magnification component of the dock.