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Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
- aklofas 14y agoapple sucks.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- dmix 14y ago> In 2009, Apple sent a letter of rejection to popular app developer Tapbots -- the makers of Tweetbot and other iOS apps -- saying the clock icon the company used in its pocket converter application looked too much like the icon used in Apple's own telephone app. Yes the appropriate response to Apple's ridiculous actions is to act in the same manor. /s Rather than pointing out hypocrisy, how about pointing out how EVERYTHING is a copy of everything before it in design. That is a constructive position, this is just inflammatory.
- hcarvalhoalves 14y agoTo be fair, that wasn't a case of plagiarism. The app wasn't rejected because it "copied" their icon, but because it used a familiar icon with a different meaning, potentially confusing users. They are just following good UI guidelines, although overzealously.
- Tichy 14y ago"how about pointing out how EVERYTHING is a copy of everything before it in design." That was the sensible position to take before courts started to award billions of dollars in damages for design infringements.
- SODaniel 14y agoAnd if Apple wanted to claim any part of that as true they should have thought twice before they started suing companies on design patents. Made bed, meet company laying in you.
- zdw 14y agoThey also copied the look of Braun's classic calculator and tape deck designs for their calculator and podcasts apps. Is this particular instance copying? Yes. Will it affect the popularity of said designs in a positive manner? Probably. Will they sell more of their $400 clock (see: http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_-Large-Swiss-Railway-Clock_10451_10001_54429_-1_26663_11551 http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDi...) as a result? I'd guess at yes. So, in any case, they sell more clocks, or if they litigate and win, they get a license fee out of Apple. So getting copied by Apple has a downside where?
- afc 14y agoNot sure if you're trolling but, obviously, Apple is not paying any license fees for this: “An SBB spokesman told Tages-Anzeiger that he was pleased Apple was using the design, but noted that the company was not authorized to do so.” I don't think anyone would claim there are any downsides, as long as Apple pays SBB what SBB feels is reasonable to authorize Apple to use SBB's design.
- achughes 14y agoThey do have Dieter Rams blessings in taking inspiration from his work at Braun. Copying the Mondaine clock is just clearly a ripoff and terrible.
- anthonyb 14y agoer, the $400 clock is a foot-and-a-half across. You probably want the more reasonably priced normal clock: http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_Small%20Swiss%20Railway%20Clock_10451_10001_54427_-1_26663_26663_57308 http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDi...
- runjake 14y agoI'm as hopeful that Apple gets served its own medicine like the next guy, but this seems more like a common sense design rather than a copy. In fact, I once made a mechanical clock that looks virtually identical to the iOS example and this was years before iOS was unleashed on the world. It's just thick lines and thin lines thrown together. The hands aren't even tapered like the Mondaine's. This seems like a desperate grasp from Apple critics, why don't they go after more obvious examples, like the pull-down menus they borrowed from Android? Heck, I don't even see all this "stealing" to and fro as a bad thing, but rather paradigms moving forward. Edit: some people pointed out the red line, which this color-deficient, sleep-deprived person failed to notice. But still, doesn't this fall more under homage than rip off?
- ars 14y agoIt's the red circle on the second hand that clinches it. It's not identical though, the minute markers are thinner, and the minute hand doesn't reach all the way to the rim. That said, how many way are there already to design a clock?
- ryanmolden 14y ago>That said, how many way are there already to design a clock? I've seen a lot of clocks in my life, but never one with a big red dot at the end of the second hand. So I would say enough not to blatantly copy what appears to be a non-standard/unique design.
- alexqgb 14y agoI've had three Mondain watches in the last 15 years (I really like them) and I had to compare side by side to see the differences. They're there, but they're subtle, and even to someone who is very familiar with the design, they're not immediately apparent. So yeah, blatant rip. For folks pointing out the Braun parallels, it's important to remember that Braun never made an iPod. Apple transposed design cues from one long-since discontinued product to a different product in a different time. It was an inspired move and I applaud them for it. With this clock, they're transposing nothing, they're adding nothing, they're improving nothing. This is just unlicensed copying. It's a credit to their good taste, perhaps, but not their sense of ethics.
- labizaboffle 14y agoApple also stole the idea from the bite out of the apple from Genesis. (The Bible, not Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel.)
- mladenkovacevic 14y agoNo, no, no you guys don't understand. This is not a cheap rip-off. It's an homage and the Swiss will be honoured that their famous clock has been elevated to the high-art status of Apple design and innovation. The critical eye of an average iPhone user will appreciate the fine craftsmanship & precision of the painstaking work that went into translating the iconic clock into an exact digital replica.
- brink 14y agoI can't downvote you. But I think that this is a prime example of the snarky comments that people are complaining about that are hurting HN's comment quality.
- nettdata 14y agoI think you spelled "sarcasm" wrong...
- mladenkovacevic 14y agoI absolutely agree. And I let myself sink to a bit of a troll here; but I don't expect much meaningful discussion can be had on this particular topic so I allowed myself (perhaps undeservedly) to express my indignation in a rather toxic way.
- damian2000 14y agoOne man's snarky comment is another man's sarcastic wit.
- lifthrasiir 14y agoOnly when the comment is indeed intended to be a sarcasm. If you want to mark the comment sarcasm you have plenty of methods, e.g. </sarcasm>.
- jamesbritt 14y agoFor years and years writers have been able to employ sarcasm and dark wit without resorting to blatant labels tipping off the reader, "Joke ahead!" Why now is this linguistic bludgeon required?
- mun2mun 14y agoNope, Apple took Swiss clock as base design optimized it for better iPad UI experience.
- wickedchicken 14y agoOn an unrelated note, I wish there was a wall clock with the real Swiss stop-to-go[1] action... Edit: and [2] would make for a great 11.5" laptop sticker [1] http://www.3quarks.com/en/StationClock/index.html http://www.3quarks.com/en/StationClock/index.html [2] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/SBB-CFF-FFS.svg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/SBB-CFF-FFS.sv...
- hcarvalhoalves 14y agoWow, cool site! I'm obsessed with these clocks now.
- JSGraef 14y agoI'm pretty sure you can buy them from inside the SBB ticket centers, but you can at least buy wrist watches from mondaine: http://www.mondaine.com/mondaine/ http://www.mondaine.com/mondaine/ edit: Looks like you can buy the wall clocks online from SBB itself http://www.sbbshop.ch/pub/index.php?page=goods&c=8&sc=12&l=en&sbbsid=49obgjlvbn5aqnfem8l09m54g0 http://www.sbbshop.ch/pub/index.php?page=goods&c=8&s...
- sschueller 14y agoThey do not start/stop.
- Devilboy 14y agoDealbreaker :(
- pmjordan 14y agoI'm certain I've seen clocks which pause on the minute like the stop-to-go ones sold in rail enthusiast magazines, railway museum gift shops etc. many years ago. Obviously, they don't include an actual stop-to-go master/slave system, they just fake it.
- sschueller 14y ago
- 10char 14y agoThis, and inevitable references to Braun, have no place in comparison with the Samsung trial. Samsung made competing products so similar to the effect, and indeed with the purpose, of confusing consumers. The recent rise in Apple bashing and calls of hypocrisy is even stranger in historical context[1]. Perhaps more of us should try and empathize with Apple's situation and history before passing fashionable judgement. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_v._Microsoft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_v._Microsoft
- enjo 14y agoWe're not supposed to criticize Apple for straight up abusing patent law because they failed at straight up abusing copyright law in the past?
- Steko 14y agoThe core idea of one company egregiously violating another's marks/trade dress is nearly identical to the Samsung situation. The difference I suspect is that Apple will pay up the same way they did when they just went ahead and named products identically to other companies' products (iPhone belonged to Cisco, etc.).
- beedogs 14y agoJesus. Is this a troll post, or are you being serious?
- adgar 14y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law
- zalew 14y agoThey should go thermonuclear war on this.
- DigitalSea 14y agoDid Apple think they would get away with copying one of the most iconic clock designs ever without anyone noticing? I am speechless. Are cracks starting to show in a post-Jobs Apple too big to fix? I don't want to bash them, but this is blatant and unlicensed copying at its best. Kind of ironic given the recent events with Samsung.
- dvhh 14y agoI think the Apple RDF was more a "Steve Jobs" RDF
- icebraining 14y agoActually, that's exactly right, according to Bud Tribble, the person who coined it, inside Apple: "Bud, that's crazy!", I told him. "We've hardly even started yet. There's no way we can get it done by then." "I know," he responded, in a low voice, almost a whisper. "You know? If you know the schedule is off-base, why don't you correct it?" "Well, it's Steve. Steve insists that we're shipping in early 1982, and won't accept answers to the contrary. The best way to describe the situation is a term from Star Trek. Steve has a reality distortion field." "A what?" "A reality distortion field. In his presence, reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically anything. It wears off when he's not around, but it makes it hard to have realistic schedules. And there's a couple of other things you should know about working with Steve." "What else?" "Well, just because he tells you that something is awful or great, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll feel that way tomorrow. You have to low-pass filter his input. And then, he's really funny about ideas. If you tell him a new idea, he'll usually tell you that he thinks it's stupid. But then, if he actually likes it, exactly one week later, he'll come back to you and propose your idea to you, as if he thought of it." I thought Bud was surely exaggerating, until I observed Steve in action over the next few weeks. The reality distortion field was a confounding melange of a charismatic rhetorical style, an indomitable will, and an eagerness to bend any fact to fit the purpose at hand. If one line of argument failed to persuade, he would deftly switch to another. Sometimes, he would throw you off balance by suddenly adopting your position as his own, without acknowledging that he ever thought differently. Amazingly, the reality distortion field seemed to be effective even if you were acutely aware of it, although the effects would fade after Steve departed. We would often discuss potential techniques for grounding it (see Are You Gonna Do It?), but after a while most of us gave up, accepting it as a force of nature. http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Reality_Distortion_Field.txt http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Reality_Distortion_Fi...
- MartinCron 14y agoI noticed the similarity right away. I had assumed apple had licensed the design if it were still protected. I would like to expect better from them. It's a beautiful design and a smart addition, but doing this at all, regardless of the Samsung case, is shameful.
- josephcooney 14y agoIs it just me, or does the digital version have a more prominent drop shadow on the hands, and thus look more "real" than the real watch?
- capitao 14y agoI own a mondaine watch like this, I rather like it :] And truthfully, seeing it in ios, I must say I kinda like it, even though its obviously ripped off and the anit-apply-fanboy in me wants to see blood
- forensic 14y ago"Good artists borrow; great artists steal."
- sathishmanohar 14y agow00t! Billion dollar lawsuit! Seriously how else can a watch company make big bucks today?
- vstm 14y agoBy selling luxury watches to Chinese millionaires.
- raverbashing 14y agoAsk Rolex, Breitling, Hublot, they all seem to be running out of cash Apple's profits are very down-to-earth compared to some of these brands
- mullingitover 14y agoHey everybody, it's legally ok. Here's why: The software on the Apple side could not be placed into the processor on the clock, and vice versa, and that means they're not interchangeable.
- mckoss 14y agoInterchangeability is not concept in patent or trademark law that I'm aware of. Do you have a legal citation?
- Tichy 14y agoIt was an argument in the recent Apple vs Samsung court battle. Samsung's prior art was dismissed, one of the jurors explained that it didn't count because the software of the prior art phone would not run on a modern phone.
- devcpp 14y agoThat sounds quite arbitrary, and if anything, it's the first time I've heard about this "principle".
- jarek 14y agoThat would be why it's being mocked by mullingitover.
- pja 14y agoIt wasn't an argument made in the courtroom, it was an argument made by one of the jurors during their deliberations. Obviously it's completely false: which processor a the program runs on ought to make no difference whatsoever to whether a system including that program infringes a patent. In a just world, this would constitute grounds for an appeal by Samsung all by itself, but I've no idea what the legal position is.
- ender7 14y agoThere is a difference here (although I admit I'm experiencing some lovely schadenfreude glow over here). Samsung built camouflaged products that were designed to confuse buyers into thinking they were buying an iPad. Here, Apple has ripped off an iconic design, but there's little doubt that what they are selling is still an iPhone and not a Swiss watch. Still, trade dress (and accusations of douchebaggery) still apply -- and, in a broader sense, Apple are still hypocrits for decrying "copying" while still doing it themselves. The exact nature of the copying is simply different.
- codeka 14y agoGiven that all of Samsung's phones have the word "Samsung" stamped on them in fairly large letters, I don't think they were doing anything to intentionally confuse buyers. Copying yes, but with the intention of confusing buyers, I don't think so.
- culturestate 14y ago> Copying yes, but with the intention of confusing buyers, I don't think so. Well, if they weren't intending to do it, then it was quite a happy accident. http://www.bgr.com/2012/07/27/samsung-tablet-returns-best-buy-ipad/ http://www.bgr.com/2012/07/27/samsung-tablet-returns-best-bu...
- zaphar 14y agoyou make an accusation that I have seen no evidence of in the press. Are you possessed of information demonstrating intent on Samsung's part to confuse buyers?
- dmishe 14y agoIsn't that what dilution of trade dress is?
- belorn 14y agoThe jury did find Samsung guilty of diluting the trade dress, but their reasoning was this: If the phone has space between the edge of the screen and the edge of the phone, then a consumer could be confused into thinking it is an iphone. Thats it. That was the test. If you have some space at the bottom of the phone thats not part of the screen, go to jail and dont pass go. Samsungs argument is that the space is functional, ie, serve a functional purpose, and thus make the bazel invalid as a trade dress for the iphone. Requirement for being granted trade dress is that it does not serve a utility or function outside of creating recognition in the consumer’s mind. Take a stop sign and its color red. Can the color red become trade dress for signs? The answer is no, as the color serves a second purpose, which is that red is associated with danger/attention required information. Since the color now has a function, it can not be trade dress.
- SODaniel 14y ago'Accused'? Well innocent until proven guilty and all but it's a 100% accurate port of the entire design. Hardly even a question. I think they should have to pay at least what they are asking Samsung for in the latest lawsuit.
- dakrisht 14y agoI love and have always loved Apple products but shit will hit the fan for them soon enough...
- mukaiji 14y agoWhen I first opened the iOS6 timer and the stopwatch, and saw the neon style button, I was a bit confused. It looks very nice but I thought it broke with design patterns of iOS in terms of color scheme, ambiance, typography (all cap text label), or even button size. It felt more like an Android interface than an iOS one. Anyone feeling the same way?
- pmarin 14y agoWe have a proverb here in Spain that you can translate as he who sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind
- lotharbot 14y agoThat's a familiar proverb in English as well. It appears in the (Hebrew) Bible, in Hosea 8:7 - http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea+8%3A7&version=NIV;NVI http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea+8%3A7&...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- kamaal 14y agoIts not a rip off. Apple is doing great service by redesigning the Swiss clock design. In fact the watch manufacturer is to blame for badly designing the watch before its time. Apple is doing great service to humanity by redesigning this clock to its right position in the world they must be rewarded for it. Swiss clock maker must be punished for badly designing this watch which is rightly fully Apple's, stolen by this maker before its time.
- SquareWheel 14y agoSpeaking as an Apple hater: so what? Apple should be allowed to use said design, as should anybody.
- sukuriant 14y agoyou must have missed that whole Apple v Samsung fiasco that just finished
- SquareWheel 14y agoI followed it closely. "Design" patents in general are ridiculous.
- sukuriant 14y agoThey are. It's just ironic this is happening. Honestly, I'm expecting these things to happen more and more as people look at Apple with a finer-tooth'd comb, what with the general view of Apple gradually diminishing.
- jeltz 14y agoWhy should they be allowed to use it? Apple's clock obviously dilute the value of the trademark owned by SBB. If this is not a trademark violation then what is?
- kbronson 14y agoLet's hope a court gets them screwed with their own medicine.
- benologist 14y agoA bit ironic that CNet is ripping off 2 other sites to tell us this.
- its_so_on 14y agoif we're being generous, maybe apple just thought that it was a Swiss train station clock nobody cares about (which, in a way, is what the clock actually was), which their team kind of just came across (maybe in switzerland!) and thought they liked it despite its being unremarkable and uncelebrated, like "found art". oops. this just goes to show that good art really is timeless. it's not about bs marketing hyping up art that isn't art without the hype. as apple just found out, it's still art without the hype.
- SeoxyS 14y agoFor what it's worth, I know for a fact that the head of Graphic Design @ Apple is Swiss.
- afdl6867397 14y agoHellow world
- zerostar07 14y agowhat if the swiss rail system installs screens or develops tablets for its passengers one day that show the iconic clock? Could Apple sue them then?
- Tichy 14y agoWell before Apple adapted it, it was used only by a very tiny fraction of the worlds population. Apple made it a mass market success. Therefore I think it is fair to say that Apple actually invented the design. The Swiss tried but failed to make it popular. Apple did it right.
- scriptproof 14y agoMaking a product "popular" does not turn it into invention and does not give legal rights to the design.
- SODaniel 14y agoAnd I would love to see anyone defend that position in court. "Your honor, it was patented but was it a 'real patent?', I mean look at the offices of the company that owns it. It's a small company, not very famous and their coffee tastes bland"..
- Mordor 14y agoWell, Apple's lack of innovation is going to remain in the spotlight for a very long time. At least they didn't copy Google Maps lol
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- Tichy 14y agoThe Swiss had the right idea, but they made a crucial mistake in their implementation: they completely missed that people might want to look at the watch while on the move, and opted for a stationary, heavy and immobile implementation. By putting it onto a small, portable device, Apple arguably added the crucial ingredient to make it a mass success (billions of users instead of a few Swiss citizens, who even have to be forced by their government to use it). So I think Apple added the most important aspect to the mix and should therefore be considered the inventors of the clock design.
- rmoriz 14y agoYour arguments are invalid: 1. Swiss people are not forced to use the railway, the literally love it. Also the design was licensed by other European railway companies e.g. Deutsche Bahn 2. You can already buy mobile devices (watches) and even a licensed iOS mobile app with the design. E.g. the German edition http://www.bahn.de/bahnshop1435/shopxml/design/zeitzeichen/armbanduhr_herren.shtml http://www.bahn.de/bahnshop1435/shopxml/design/zeitzeichen/a... or the Swiss original http://www.sbbshop.ch/pub/index.php?page=goods&c=8&l=de&sbbsid=babf9af73eee4b84bc8151cbf6db576d&l=fr&l=de&l=fr&l=it&l=en&l=de http://www.sbbshop.ch/pub/index.php?page=goods&c=8&l...
- Tichy 14y agoYeah, but those are not really digital, so they are irrelevant.
- rmoriz 14y agoThe "SwissRailwayClock" iOS app is digital and… licensed. German: http://www.blick.ch/news/wirtschaft/apple-klaut-bahnhofs-uhr-der-sbb-id2040821.html http://www.blick.ch/news/wirtschaft/apple-klaut-bahnhofs-uhr...
- Tichy 14y agoDidn't know that. But if it was an iPhone app before, I think it is OK. It is their phone and their platform, so they can do with it what they want.
- mxfh 14y agoIt't not just a copy it's a bad copy. The small second markers seem to collide with the neighboring bigger 5-second markers. While the original design keeps an equal white-space between the markers, which leads to differing angles between the markers centers. Apple has all the same angles, not differentiating between the big and small markers which lead to this crammed looking version. [EDIT, got curious and started measuring] Apparently I was wrong, the angles are also all the same (6 degrees) in the original. But still, optically the space between the hour and adjacent minute markers looks way better in the original.
- anonymouz 14y agoIt seems that a lot of people argue that this is entirely different from the Samsung v. Apple case, because this is just an "homage" and SBB/Mondaine don't directly compete with Apple. Hewever, SBB stands to loose a symbolic icon: What is now the Swiss railway clock may well become "that iOS clock". Mondaine will probably also not be happy when their watches will be recognized as "that iPad clock". It seems like a significant dilution of trade dress/a trademark to me.
- jeltz 14y agoYeah, and I am not sure if the SBB would wish to license it to Apple. At least not for a price Apple would be willing to pay for just a clock.
- fla 14y agoApple is very good at marketing, very good. That's how they make people talk about their products. And it costs them practically nothing.
- jopt 14y agoIt's a ripoff, and strange that Apple didn't license the design, assuming they did their homework and find the IP belonged to someone. It's not going to confuse anyone. Zero iPads will be returned because the customers thought this was the famous Swiss wall clock they'd heard so much about. So it doesn't have much to do with Apple v. Samsung. Let's not try so hard to make everything about that; high-resolution thinking should allow for similar but separate conflicts to exist.
- Blara 14y agoare there any numbers on how many people have returned their samsung/iPhone because they thought it was the other one? I've heard this argument time and time again but have yet to see any numbers on it.
- jopt 14y agoLate reply, sorry. There's some among the data provided to the court. IIRC Apple submitted an internal report done by Samsung, which indicated Galaxy Tabs are often returned because users thought they were buying iPads.
- manojlds 14y agoFunny that the photo credit mentions Mondaine AND Apple :)
- simonh 14y agoThe Swiss railway has contacted Apple, who have yet to respond. At that point, when Apple respond, we'll know whether they're hypocrites or not. If they refuse to change the design or licence it, they are. Should they have copied it in the first place? No. They were wrong to do it and they need to make amends. Is this similar to the Samsung case? Let's see, we have 400 page Samsung documents explaining in minute detail exactly how they intended to duplicate the iPhone user interface, and when asked to stop doing it they refused. Hopefully Apple will show more grace and honesty. Maybe they won't. But right now that's all up in the air. Edit: I see this case as a litmus test for the anti-apple crowd the way the Aliyun case was a litmus test for Apple supporters. In the Aliyun case, it would be easy to accuse Google of hypocrisy and make jokes about openness when in fact it was just about Acer meeting their contractual obligations as members of the open handset alliance. In this case it would be easy to paint Apple a plagiarist and hypocrite, when they still clearly have an opportunity to come clean and make right. IMHO both are good ways to tell if someone is actually capable of being fair minded or not.
- cageface 14y agoApple's the one trying to claim the high ground here and Apple's the one going on the offensive with their design patent suits so it's only right that we hold them to a higher standard. This is the same reason that the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 are receiving so much criticism. When you strut around in public trumpeting your deep cultural devotion to innovation and use shaky patents to get competitors products yanked off shelves you damn well better walk the walk.
- simonh 14y agoTo your first point, agreed. They need to come clean and make good. I don't see what this has got to do with any general criticism of the iPhone 5 or iOS 6 though.
- hxf148 14y agoReally? Get bent.
- sneak 14y agoHoly shit, design nerds, apple fans/bashers, and clock enthusiasts all up in arms in one thread! Personally, this walking stereotype wishes that the cnet article had been typeset in Comic Sans so that the typeophiles could get outraged too.
- ritratt 14y agohaha...FUCK U TOO APPLE!
- hownottowrite 14y agoThe SBB should be careful. If Apple's unhappy, they can move the rail lines into the nearest river. They have that power now.
- reddit_clone 14y agoIf I can't clean up all the coffee, you are paying for my new keyboard!
- poub 14y agoI don’t understand why Apple made such blatant mistake. The clock app wasn’t included on the iPad and an alternative version clearly missing on the Appstore. This version of click is well made, simple to use as this kind of app should be.. Borrowing the design of very well known clock is a good idea too. But Mondaine (the owner of that design) have licensing option already in place : http://www.mondaine.com/private-label/ http://www.mondaine.com/private-label/ So clearly Apple could have just bought the licence of this design. But they could also have taken this opportunity to ask worldwide watchmaker to give their clockface designs for the official Apple Clock application. I am sure every watchmaker in the world would have paid without questions. After all they are all spending millions in magazine adverts. I don’t understand the position of Apple just after the Samsung lawsuit. The result is to show Apple being arrogant once more and it put the company in a mismatch branding situation that could have been avoided. Clearly somebody at Apple is not doing his / her job.
- chmars 14y agoIs the Swiss railway clock a protected trademark at all? Judging from the Swiss trademark registry, the protection as a trademark ended a few days ago on September 3, 2012: https://www.swissreg.ch/srclient/de/tm/512830 https://www.swissreg.ch/srclient/de/tm/512830 In addition, the trademark is only protected for class 14 as clocks and its parts but not for other classes and in particular not for software.
- Renaud 14y agoThat's the most useful comment of this whole discussion, and I'm sorry it's buried so deep.
- thudson 14y agoI hear that the WC doors on Swiss trains have a slide-to-unlock feature as well.
- sampsonjs 14y agoTalent imitates, genius steals!
- EternalFury 14y agoTranslate that for me: L'Arroseur arrosé.
- dmbaggett 14y agoAs staunch upholders of intellectual property rights, Apple, I'm sure, greatly appreciates this oversight being pointed out to them.
- poub 14y agoI don’t understand why Apple made such blatant mistake. Originally the clock app wasn’t included on the iPad. This version of clock is well made, simple to use as this kind of app should be. Not rocket science but alternatives version are clearly missing on the Appstore. (I looked for one of them that could replicate the one I have on my Android 4 Galaxy S2). (Re)introducing the Clock app is great, but borrowing the design of very well known clock is a even better. It fit the trend of Apple reunding well known texture and design. If that trend is good or bad is another question fueled by love and hate feelings. But Mondaine, the owner of that clock design, have licensing option already in place : http://www.mondaine.com/private-label/ http://www.mondaine.com/private-label/ Apple could have just bought the licence of this design. End of story. Apple could also have taken this opportunity to ask worldwide watchmaker to give their clockface designs for the official Apple Clock application. I am sure every watchmaker in the world would have even paid fro that privilege. After all they are all spending millions in magazine adverts. I don’t understand the position of Apple just after the Samsung lawsuit. The result is to show Apple being arrogant once more and it put the company in a mismatch branding situation that could have been avoided. Clearly somebody at Apple is not doing his / her job. We’re talking about a Clock application here! Not Maps which is another fiasco much much more difficult to fix. That kind of decision never been the role of Steve Jobs. Who else is missing at Apple ?
- fatbird 14y agoFor all the Gruber haters here, his comment is "What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Apple needs to cough up a licensing fee here."
- tisme 14y agoIf a couple of rounded corners and some UI tweaks are worth $3B then I wonder what the design of a clock is worth.
- vvpan 14y agoThere are too many sarcastic comments in this thread. Seriously. There are 10 comments which are essentially the same. I hate to use the cliche comparison to Reddit, but it's hard not to.
- malyk 14y agoIs there a clock, different than the clock app, that I'm not aware of? I'm using the iOS 6 Gold Master and the icon my clock app does not look like that at all.
- MaysonL 14y agoMountain out of mole-hill: the Apple haters get some fuel. Apple is a big company, one designer stole an icon (with or without realizing it was trademarked), and nobody caught it. Big deal. Not. If Apple refuses to acknowledge its error, and refuses to fix (however it's required to), then it'll be a big f'ing deal, for anyone other than the anti-Apple zealots.
- waynesutton 14y agoThey can battle it out in court and the blogs I'm just glad Apple finally decide to ship their own clock app for the iPad.
- unkoman 14y agoKeep sucking apples dick, guys.
- Flow 14y agoSure, it looks quite like the railway clock. I'd prefer Apple to pay for the rights and do an exact copy. As it is now there are several details that look not alike and in a sense not aesthetically pleasing.
- olalonde 14y agoPoe's law is really shining in this comment thread. "Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine kook."