Apple, Inc. has filed for a patent for a technology that would allow an iPod or iPhone to automatically adjust its maximum volume depending the length of time one listens to it. According to a patent application filed in Europe, its express purpose is to protect against hearing loss that may occur from long iPod sessions at loud volumes.

"Since the damaging effect on users’ hearing is both gradual and cumulative," Apple wrote in its application, "even those users who are concerned about hearing loss may not behave with respect to their portable media players in a manner that would limit or minimize such damaging hearing effects."

Apple’s solution, and first reported by the London Telegraph, involves a method that constantly analyzes the music being played and the length of time it is being listened to. From that, a maximum volume is determined automatically.

According to the application, "The refining is configured to prevent/minimize harm to hearing of the media player user based, for example, on the actual volume of media playback and time/duration profiles provided by occupational safety and/or other organizations."

Several news outlets, including the Telegraph, have grabbed the news of this patent application and reported that Apple is coming out with an iPod that has this technology. It’s important to note, however, that no such announcement has been made, and the patent itself has yet to even be granted.

While Apple could certainly do so at some point, it’s also possible that this is merely one of the many methods and technologies for which the company applies for a patent that never makes it into a product. The flip side to that dose of reality, however, is that the patent application is an explicit acknowledgement that some hearing loss could occur from prolonged iPod listening, and failure to act on that knowledge while the preventive measure exists could be seized on in this age of litigation.