iPod mini was the first with the capacitive touch wheel with integrated buttons. It came out in 2004 and patents usually only last 20 years, so it should be fine to use the tech as long as you don’t use an apple logo, or any of the advancements they made in 2005 or later.
I hear that, I’ve been using Windows since '98, and only had Linux on my primary computer for a few weeks. I didn’t think I’ll be going back even though HDR support is spotty.