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

[Tech198]

Originally Posted by madgick

My new get rich quick scheme is to patent useless things like fonts and shapes and really really hope that apple accidentally infringe on one of them and cough $10million at me when everyone finds out

So, patent any random things, or object..

There sure to be at least few companies that will 'accidently' infringe in that life time.

Try that with a single word, and it will be lawsuit heaven.

[Yoda Mann]

Originally Posted by Rockoar

Everyone knows big companies are the big tax evaders and not small businesses.

Don't be silly. Corporations never pay taxes. Every and all taxes levied on a corporation are paid for the corporation by these three groups:

1 Employees who are paid less than they otherwise would be with an unburdened company;

2 Stockholders, who pay through lowered stock market and dividend returns;

3 Customers, who pay higher prices for goods and services to offset the corporate tax burden.

Which is alway to say, when yo-yos call for higher corporate taxes all they are doing is taxing themselves in order to feel better about sticking it to the man.

[kaniSS]

What for? What a waste.

Give me 100k and I'll design you a better clock icon.

[ubviswanath]

Apple did not pay a dime! We did!

On a side note - those Swiss clocks are very well expensive!

I need to be paid too - Is apple going to pay us for using 'I' in all their products?

[DrDomVonDoom]

They just chucked a billion into r&d and people are bitching over 21 mil? Common guys with as much as they make per ipad, its pennies.

[robanga]

Can you imagine what the team of graphic designers or designer from the 1930s would think ....$21M

[RoadOfMajor]

Originally Posted by DrDomVonDoom

They just chucked a billion into r&d and people are bitching over 21 mil? Common guys with as much as they make per ipad, its pennies.

Do you know the ROI of R&D versus the ROI of a block of pixels?

That's a rhetorical question. You obviously don't know.

[HelveticaRoman]

Originally Posted by Mak47

This can't be accurate...

It's a Swiss clock: it doesn't get more accurate than that ;-)

[GoodWatch]

Originally Posted by gnasher729

Do you seriously think that anyone in a responsible position at Apple knew that this was a legally protected design? Or let's say anyone who _still_ is in a responsible position at Apple

A company of Apple's calibre, spending literally millions of dollars on litigation (Samsung anyone?), has the moral obligation to know these things. Those research tasks are delegated, like it is my job to make sure my company has all the right software licenses. That's not the task of my MD but mine.

[tekno]

So, according to Apple, a graphical image of the Mondaine clock is worth as much as a 76-carat, flawless diamond.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20315424

Personally, I think Apple have a lot more money than sense. A lot.

[AidenShaw]

Originally Posted by HelveticaRoman

It's a Swiss clock: it doesn't get more accurate than that ;-)

I lived in Geneva for eight years - if a bus or train was late, the most likely reason was that your watch was wrong.

Seriously.

[Tucom]

Can I please stop getting notifications from people trying to correct me regarding how much Apple "cares" because they gave more to a clock design than Red Cross.


No, I didn't realize Apple HAD to pay 21 mill ensuing a lawsuit, now I do. So...yeah, done.

[AidenShaw]

Originally Posted by Tucom

Can I please stop getting notifications from people trying to correct me regarding how much Apple "cares" because they gave more to a clock design than Red Cross.


No, I didn't realize Apple HAD to pay 21 mill ensuing a lawsuit, now I do. So...yeah, done.

At least (unless I missed it) nobody has suggested that Apple should just buy Switzerland with its cash hoard.

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by GoodWatch

A company of Apple's calibre, spending literally millions of dollars on litigation (Samsung anyone?), has the moral obligation to know these things. Those research tasks are delegated, like it is my job to make sure my company has all the right software licenses. That's not the task of my MD but mine.

So what do you think happened there?

Scenario 1: Product Manager: "We need a really nice clock design". Designer: (Finds a really nice design on the web) "Look at this great design that I created".

Scenario 2: Product Manager: "We need a really nice clock design". Designer: (Finds a really nice design on the web) "Look at this great design that I found on the web". Product Manager: "We'll take it, nobody will notice that we didn't create it".

Scenario 3: Product Manager: "We need a really nice clock design". Designer: (Finds a really nice design on the web) "Look at this great design that I found on the web". Product Manager to Legal: "Check out if we can use this design". Incompetent lawyer: "That's fine, you can't copyright or trademark something that obvious".

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by Drunken Master

Exactly, it's different.

Apple copied the look of Dieter Rams' design for a Braun calculator:


Rams didn't sue, he actually said he takes it as a complement. Ives has also copied other Braun products:

Actually, you could do a bit of googling and find out what these products really look like.

Here, for example, is Dieter Rams' pocket radio that Apple supposedly copied when they created the iPod. It looks quite different from an iPod if it isn't turned on its head and photographed precisely from the front so that its depth isn't visible:



The "calculator" image really looks photoshopped to me. Well, the Apple calculator on my iPod Touch does look quite different. The monitor? What the hell. How is that monitor supposed to look similar?

And what do you think of this?



This is a photo of Dieter Rams' T1000 Weltempfänger. Does it remind you of any Apple product? Well, when it is carefully staged it can be made to resemble a Mac Pro like in this image:

[Drunken Master]

Originally Posted by gnasher729

Actually, you could do a bit of googling and find out what these products really look like.

Here, for example, is Dieter Rams' pocket radio that Apple supposedly copied when they created the iPod. It looks quite different from an iPod if it isn't turned on its head and photographed precisely from the front so that its depth isn't visible:

You're assuming I don't know what said products look like, but I'm a huge Braun so...

The iPod was inspired by the T3 pocket radio, not a rip-off, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Like Rams says, "[Apple] were able to do something I never could, and that's get people to queue up to buy their products."

Again, Rams says he takes it as a compliment.

[steve09090]

Originally Posted by antic

Puts things into perspective.
Sandy relief 2.5 million $
Clock face. 21 million $

And putting it into further perspective, they reached an expected quarterly revenue of $37B and have more than $100B in the bank (higher than the US has).

I didn't know they had a responsibility to solve all the worlds problems.

Clock face = $0. Intellectual Property = $21M.

Originally Posted by kaniSS

What for? What a waste.

Give me 100k and I'll design you a better clock icon.

Design a better clock design and they might give it to you!