Apple awarded touch sensitive bezel patent

Does the iPad’s extra wide bezel bother you? I know it bothers me. It’s consistent with other displays that Apple produces, such as on the MacBook Pros, but I still hate to see that much wasted space. Apparently Apple has similar feelings, but instead of eliminating this space between the edge of the device and the screen, they may intend to put it to use. Apple has been awarded a patent to use that area for touch based controls.