Apple Reportedly Paid $21 Million for Rights to Swiss Railways Clock Design

For those who are enraged that this $21M was instead of some other spending... it wasn’t. Whatever you wanted Apple to spend money on, they still can.

For those who think Apple had to pay an unfair amount... they screwed up blatantly. They licensed it AFTER they used it. They would have had a lot more negotiating power—as well as the option to just use some other design--if they hadn’t already violated the copyright. Might have been just one or two people’s honest mistake, rather than Apple management on a mission to steal, but the result was the same.

Mike MA said:

Again a useless and this time very expensive use of skeuomorphism...Apple will need to sell some iPads to refinance that Forstall decision....

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All non-digital clocks are skeuomorphic. I like this one... but I’m glad it’s not MY $12M

G4DP said:

Because the could get taxed on that. So it's a big no no.

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There would be a hefty tax deduction I am sure, plus an incalculable amount of goodwill.

And I wonder how much lawyers on both sides made out of this...

gnasher729 said:

It will be consumers (those travelling with the Swiss railway) who get the benefit at the end.

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Nice
But it doesn't work that way. Swiss rail won't lower their prices and neither will Apple raise theirs. Every company will always ask the highest price for their product they think they can get away with. So these 21 million come out of the shareholders' pockets, not the customers'.

crypticlineage said:

Wow, thats incredible!

Remember that the consumer will be the one picking up the tab at the end.

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Yes.. we are paying for that, no wonder Apple is getting greedy with customer service.

Last year the battery of my MBP explode and they gave me a replacement for free even the recall was over. This last week the same battery explode again and I had to pay $100 even the replacement was supposed to be better quality than the original.

DisMyMac said:

Switzerland is intimately connected with the major European cults... Perhaps the clock's symbolism was important to Apple, and it had nothing to do with aesthetics.

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Ah...

Let's hope this penalty will bring Apple back on track. As of today, the Clock apps on iOS are different between iPhone and iPad. That's a lame oversight and should not have happened.

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nagromme said:

All non-digital clocks are skeuomorphic. I like this one... but I’m glad it’s not MY $12M

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Not all.

And $21 million.

Good thing they paid. Whose idea was it to rip off a clock design for iOS anyway? But I would have been fine with just having a different clock design.

crypticlineage said:

Wow, thats incredible!

Remember that the consumer will be the one picking up the tab at the end.

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No they won't. Pricing is decided by supply and demand. Shareholders are the ones that lose when companies waste money, not that Apple will miss this much cash.

I find it kind of hard to believe that they paid this much anyway. Maybe it includes some kind of advertising for Apple or they just misplaced the decimal.

rei101 said:

Yes.. we are paying for that, no wonder Apple is getting greedy with customer service.

Last year the battery of my MBP explode and they gave me a replacement for free even the recall was over. This last week the same battery explode again and I had to pay $100 even the replacement was supposed to be better quality than the original.

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Greedy with customer service? Not sure those words belong together.

So it sounds like you were hoping to get a _better_ battery for free? When I've purchased replacement batteries, they've typically been more than $100, so you probably got yours at a discount. Why are you complaining?

But to take a couple of steps back... why are your batteries exploding? Are you letting them get too hot?

Wow, $21 million for a clock. I'm assuming batteries are extra?

coolfactor said:

Not all.

And $21 million.

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Not arguing, but I'd like to see one that isn't. I can't think of one.

johncrab said:

That amount is ridiculous and I don't believe it for a moment. I would have changed the design to show a Swiss guy getting shot at high noon before paying out that much cash in an extortion basis.

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If you did that, you would have saved Apple $21M because that design would not be a direct ripoff of a Swiss watch design.

"the licensing agreement may not provide any compensation to watchmaker Mondaine..."

And why would it? They're just another licensee of the design.

b11051973 said:

What a waste of money.

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Not necessarily. You have to factor in other costs if Apple had fought the case. Remember, if Apple infringed, the plaintiff was entitled to compensation. Just think how many devices that clock appears. Attorney fees and other expenses must also be considered. Sometimes, it is better to settle than fight.

Boghog said:

Nice
But it doesn't work that way. Swiss rail won't lower their prices and neither will Apple raise theirs. Every company will always ask the highest price for their product they think they can get away with. So these 21 million come out of the shareholders' pockets, not the customers'.

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Yeah, exactly. Apple shows this whenever they charge way more for extra RAM than what the parts cost and when they make more profit off of iPads than competitors (who make around <$0 profit) do.

Choo-choo

All aboard the sue train!!!

Frign said:

Who knows how much Apple would've liked it to put a statement for the Swiss Federal Railways on their main page on apple.ch.

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Just that there's no apple.ch to put it on...

Now, thats one expensive clock.

What a waste of money

faroZ06 said:

Whose idea was it to rip off a clock design for iOS anyway?

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Most likely Steve's after lurking around here for a while during therapy...

Tucom said:

So Apple paid 21 Million for a flippin' clock and only paid 2.5 million to help Hurricane Sandy victims?


What a load of BS...shows how much Apple cares.

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Atleast They helped the Sandy Victims, Its better then nothing.

A protracted lawsuit would have been so much cheaper.

LOL this is so stupid.. Apple cant make their own iconic Clock ICON that's absurd... Hell hire me I will make you one for a mere $1000.00 (Still ripping you off but hey it's not 21 million ripoff)

per

What does this break down to per iOS6 iPad?