Now Apple's copying...the Swiss Federal Railway

[jakem1]

Apple apes trademarked Swiss railway clock for iPad's new Clock app

Apple added a Clock app to the iPad in iOS 6, but the company may get into trouble for the visual look of the app's analog-style clock face. According to Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger, Apple's designers copied the iconic?and trademarked?look of the Swiss Federal Railway (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, or SBB) clocks used in train stations all over Switzerland. And the SBB wants Apple to pay up.

This isn't the first time Apple has used an iconic design for an iOS app. The original iOS calculator used a design that paid homage to the classic Braun ET44 calculator. Apple SVP of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive is well-known as an unabashed fan of Braun designer Dieter Rams.

However, SBB noted that it has a copyright and trademark on the design of its railway station clocks, which have become an icon of both SBB and Switzerland itself. "We enjoy the fact that the Swiss railway clock is being used by Apple. It once again proves that it's a real piece of design," SBB spokesperson Christian Ginsig said. "This act, however, is an unauthorized use [of the clock's design] by Apple."

SBB said that it is contacting Apple to work out a "legal and financial" resolution.

Using the SBB railway clock's design could be viewed as yet another homage to a classic, but it seems SBB isn't going to simply take the compliment. And catching Apple making unauthorized copies of any design is especially ironic in light of the company's repeated claims that Samsung "slavishly copied" its iPhone and iPad designs for its smartphones and tablets.

Ars Technica

[MikeChipshop Member]

EVERYBODY SHOULD SUE EVERYBODY! :rofl:

[Asrokhel]

EVERYBODY SHOULD SUE EVERYBODY! :rofl:

Americans do so all the time! :p

[TheLegendOfMart]

Typical Apple, they copy when it suits them and sue people when they are copied from.

[FISKER_Q]

Apple doesn't copy, everyone else retroactively steals.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Busted. Pay up, Apple.

[benthebear]

You would think that a company who is so entangled in the legal system would have their butt covered.

[javagreen]

So what happened to the 'There are many different ways to design without infringing on patents" trumpet Apple was blowing during the Samsung trial?

********, they should be made to pay $1 billion for this blatant theft.

[Astra.Xtreme]

So what happened to the 'There are many different ways to design without infringing on patents" trumpet Apple was blowing during the Samsung trial?

********, they should be made to pay $1 billion for this blatant theft.

Calm down. A hardware design patent is a lot more severe than a trademark or copyright. It can all be easily fixed via a software update.

[javagreen]

Calm down. A hardware design patent is a lot more severe than a trademark or copyright. It can all be easily fixed via a software update.

My comment was more in reaction to 'rounded corners on icons' et al than the actual hardware itself, if you didn't understand.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

havent you learned, it is alright for apple to copy things however, if someone copy's apple then their product must be removed from the market irremediably.

[44MLX]

I see lawsuits coming..!

[FMH]

That's one entity Apple can't sign a patent license agreement with. They will most likely have to change it.

[Osiris]

What goes around comes around I guess :).

[Astra.Xtreme]

My comment was more in reaction to 'rounded corners on icons' et al than the actual hardware itself, if you didn't understand.

Yeah, because that was completely obvious from what you said...

[.Neo]

Let me be the first to respond in typical Samsung/Android fanboy fashion:

• Those people at the SBB (Swiss Federal Railway) are insane! Their clock has a thicker hour hand compared to the minute hand. With Apple's clock both hour and minute hands have the same slender appearance. Therefore the SBB clock design and Apple's look nothing alike!
  

• Having a red second hand with a circle at the outer end makes all the sense in the world! Everyone would eventually come to the same design decision. There are only so many ways you can design a second hand, this being the most natural one. The SBB shouldn't be able to patent such an obvious design!
  

:laugh:

[123456789A]

Let me respond in the same fashion the Samsung/Android fanboys frequently do:

Those people at the Swiss Federal Railway are insane! Their clock and Apple's look nothing alike! The Swiss Federal Railway clock has a thicker minute hand compared to the hour hand. With Apple's clock both minute and hour hands have the same slender appearance.

:laugh:

Nobody should hold a patent on round clocks!

[+Fahim S. MVC]

Calm down people - it's only if Apple are not willing to meet licensing conditions will anyone sue anyone (or Apple will change the clock).

You have to remember that Samsung did get offered the option of doing the same.

[.Neo]

Nobody should hold a patent on round clocks!

:laugh:

[Teebor]

What goes around comes around I guess :).

Just like the hands on a clock

Woah, this is deep :shiftyninja:

[aberg]

Swiss TSA will probably confiscate all Apple stuff from now on. :)

[farmeunit]

Calm down people - it's only if Apple are not willing to meet licensing conditions will anyone sue anyone (or Apple will change the clock).

You have to remember that Samsung did get offered the option of doing the same.

Except that no one looked at a Samsung tablet and said, "Man that iPad is awesome!". The UI may have been similar, but UI has been similar to that for years across many products, and before the iProducts came out. The products themselves weren't copies, just similar. Samsung tried showing previous work that Apple based their designs on, but that wasn't allowed. Why would you sign that, if you're not guilty? The companies Microsoft gets to sign their agreements are afraid of this same thing. It's cheaper to pay licensing, than go to court and get screwed. Even if you are doing things legit, the courts are a different beast. It's usually not about what's right, but about who can afford the best lawyers.

[Lord Method Man]

Is the Clock app's time as inaccurate as their maps are?

[.Neo]

Is the Clock app's time as inaccurate as their maps are?

If you set it to the wrong time and disable internet synchronization, yes it is.

[123456789A]

Is the Clock app's time as inaccurate as their maps are?

Even a broken clock is correct twice a day.