Sony patents new controller with PS4 style touchpad.

A Sony trademark filing from 2012 has been unearthed, showing off what appears to look like a new version of the PlayStation Move controller.

A diagram of the device is reminiscent of the original Move controller, complete with its distinctive bauble on the top. The patent, spotted by CVG, is for a "flat joystick controller" and was published on December 5 after being filed in June 2012.

A key difference from the original PlayStation Move controller is the addition of a touch surface underneath the face buttons. Explaining the inclusion, the patent filing reads "a touch surface is disposed on one side of the handle. The touch surface has an indicator that is identified by a surface characteristic on the touch surface. The touch surface provides an area for receiving directionality control in response to interfacing by a finger of a user."

It's worth remembering that the PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller also features a touch pad.

"In a traditional joystick, it's hard to keep a user's thumb still while the user provides input by engaging various motions with the joystick. This is due to the fact that in the joystick, the thumb's support moves. However, using a touch input surface, the thumb can be kept still while continuing to provide the user's input by pressing on the input surface. The pressing of the user's finger on the input surface causes friction that is recognized," continues the filing.

While the PlayStation 4 supports the original Move controller, Sony is yet to focus much attention--publicly, at least--on the future of its motion controller.

Sony says it has now sold 2.1 million PlayStation 4's worldwide since the machine's North America debut on November 15.