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Apple Licenses Swiss Railway Clock Design for iPad's iOS 6 Clock App
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I wish the Swiss would have told Apple to shove it. It would have been funny. Of course Apple would have just slightly rounded the corners on all of the rectangles and then sued the Swiss for copyright infringement.
I will soon own patents on all slightly varied geometric shapes and my empire will rise like a reentrant polygon from the ground, casting an oddly shaped shadow over all those who cower to my geometric power!!
Okay, start small. I am off to patent a slightly more rounded circle right now!!!!
I will soon own patents on all slightly varied geometric shapes and my empire will rise like a reentrant polygon from the ground, casting an oddly shaped shadow over all those who cower to my geometric power!!
Okay, start small. I am off to patent a slightly more rounded circle right now!!!!
So, you need numbers on a watch to be able to tell what time it is? What has happened to our education system?
Really? Thats kind of sad.
Again, Sad. This is the kind of thing that frightens me.
As a young man, I find it terrifying how many grown men I see with digital watches. Grow up. [Insert rant on infantilization of society.]
HERE HERE! Sexy watch BTW.
Yup. I can easily see one of their designers taking notice of that clock and its iconic nature and thinking "wow, that's a cool design" but then having absolutely no clue that it is a trademarked design. It looks so clean and basic I would not have thought it was trademarked, just popular. It's not like we see a "registered trademark" symbol or some Swiss equivalent on the face of the clock.
EDIT: on second inspection there is some symbol on the Swiss clock that might I indicate something. Maybe somebody from Switzerland can tell us if that is the "registered trademark" symbol in Switzerland. Still it is easily missed. I have never really thought of clock faces being trademarked unless they used trademarked characters like Mickey Mouse.
Second edit: the macrumors picture has that symbol but the picture posted below does not show that symbol so who is to say where the apple designer originally saw the clock that inspired him. I still favor the ignorance theory here. The designer simply had no clue it was trademarked.
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It would not be a ransom else Apple would have simply changed the design of the clock in the operating system.
There is absolutely no way a graphic designer, at Apple of all places, tasked with designing a clock face, would not recognize that clock face as the Swiss Railway clock.
I'm not a graphic designer and the very second I saw the clock in iOS 6 I said "How'd they get permission to use that?".
They did practise what they preach. When they discovered they had illegally used a trademark design, they said sorry and ponied up.
Now, if they'd attempted to justify the theft by going to court, lying, disobeying orders from the judge, losing, being landed with a billion dollar find then attacking the jury in a crybaby sort of way when the verdict didn't go their way, then they wouldn't be practicising what they preach.
Good luck to them living in the real world if they can't function unless data is spoon fed to them in digital format. Not just clocks; pressure gauges, data strips, dials, you name it. Not to mention the basic understanding of fractions, percentages, and angular measurements. I won't call them idi**ts, but boy, are they in for one challenging life.
"Good luck to them living in the real world..."
Um... They *are* living in the real world. And they're doing just fine. They simply don't use numberless analog clocks. Wow, that must have been *hard*.
I mean they don't typically wear a watch *anyway* (preferring to use their phone for that purpose), so finding a digital one must be *impossible*.
Oh, wait. They *don't typically wear a watch anyway*!
this looks literally like any clock on any public building here. be it at school, town hall, offices etc.
i had no idea its possible to even trademark sth this basic. o well
cuz an iPhone isnt an iPad
read the news item again
i had no idea its possible to even trademark sth this basic. o well
cuz an iPhone isnt an iPad
read the news item againLOL, if you have to "sit there and count hash marks" you must have failed Kindergarten. Telling time on an "analog clock" is one of the big focuses in Kindergarten. You shouldn't need to sit and count hash marks. The clock should be so engrained in your memory you can just glance at it and know the time. Our society has determined that to be an important skill. Thus the "analog clocks" on the wall of almost every classroom of almost every school in the country.
The designer tasked with whipping up a clock, opens google types in 'clock'. Doesn't at any point check if any of the designs he's creating are protected and smashes out a design.
No one at apple notices, it goes into software and that's it.
It's only the designer that could say if he copied it from the original.
To me the only part is the red ball on the seconds hand that is unique the rest is very traditional on all clocks, thin red hand, black thick hands, no numbers, black and white simple design it's not protected. But by simply adding the red ball very common around the world in swimming pools airports stations etc they screwed up.
No one at apple notices, it goes into software and that's it.
It's only the designer that could say if he copied it from the original.
To me the only part is the red ball on the seconds hand that is unique the rest is very traditional on all clocks, thin red hand, black thick hands, no numbers, black and white simple design it's not protected. But by simply adding the red ball very common around the world in swimming pools airports stations etc they screwed up.
Wow. Apple steals someones design then signs an agreement later. Apple is becoming arrogant.
this looks literally like any clock on any public building here. be it at school, town hall, offices etc.
i had no idea its possible to even trademark sth this basic. o well
cuz an iPhone isnt an iPad
Didn't know you could do patent rounded edges either.
Exactly, that clock design is everywhere. It's been exported in everything from wrist watches to wall clocks from Asia for decades.
For those saying "Apple should of known" ... No, not really, it's fair to give them a pass here. Plus they immediately made a lisencing agreement so all is good.
Oh boy, no need for drama on this one