Apple Licenses Swiss Railway Clock Design for iPad's iOS 6 Clock App

[0xyMoron]

So Apple did rip off the design and reached a settlement after being caught just to avoid the fuss.

 

[Anuba]

So Apple did rip off the design and reached a settlement after being caught just to avoid the fuss.

Isn't this 'cheeky maverick' approach rather typical of Apple? Like when they just hijacked the name 'iPhone' and took the legal battle with the owner afterwards...

 

[RiverCitySlim]

This was a smart business move by Apple. There is no reason to pay for a license until you are called out on it. They did the same thing with Nokia and are currently doing it with other FRAND patents. Don't pay until you are left with no other option. To do so would be silly.

 

[MartinSpoon]

This was a smart business move by Apple. There is no reason to pay for a license until you are called out on it. They did the same thing with Nokia and are currently doing it with other FRAND patents. Don't pay until you are left with no other option. To do so would be silly.

This is ridiculous - to do so would be honest and responsible. In your world, we all just cheat and defraud each other until some arsehole comes out on top.

 

[KnightWRX]

If it were Samsung that did this, they would say that the Swiss Railway can't patent circles and dots lol

Of course, we're discussing Trademarks, not patents. But don't let that little tidbit bother you in the least.

Trademarks are different from design patents. There is no "obviousness" clause in a trademark, and also it must be defended or you risk losing it. In other words, the Swiss Railway people were forced to take action against Apple, and no matter how simple the design is, Apple was risking trademark infringement for using it.

 

[bearcatrp]

Yea, it is interesting. Wonder if they would license to others. NAH. We are the mighty Apple, bring your cash and then bow and worship our attorneys.

I have been screaming for years that Apple arrogance is going to hurt their image bad when the coolness wears off.

I already started moving away. If I could find a replacement for iTunes and ATV that works as good, I'd be gone. I'll give it a few more years and apple will start to tumble, if not earlier. What goes up always comes back down, sometimes painfully hard.

 

[faroZ06]

Good. I hate it when big companies get away with IP theft.

 

[mac2424]

OK. I realize that this is just my personal opinion, but I think the clock is ugly as sin.

The Swiss railway authority should be embarrassed to about their clock.

The Swiss Railway Authority should be paying Apple a hefty sum for using such an ugly icon.

Now, I must admit that I have no use for a clock with no numbers on it. When I buy a new watch which I do about every four or five years, it must have arabic numerals on it. Not hash marks, not Roman Numerals, but Arabic numerals. I want to be able to look at my watch, or clock, and know what time it is. I do not want to have to sit there and count hash marks to figure out what time it is.

Of course, your mileage may vary. If you like the clock, then I am happy for you and I hope you live a long and happy life.

There are no Arabic Numerals. The ciphers/cyphers 1 to 0 are Sanskrit ciphers. The Islamic invaders (thieves and murderers) "introduced" these to the Western World as their invention, which clearly was/is not.

 

[Saikkou]

How did the swiss patent a clock with a standard face? I wear a Nooka watch, and they were able to get a patent because the watch face was different enough to be considered unique. This is just a clock.

 

[AlexJaye]

LOL at all the people saying the clock is beautiful. It looks like a freaking clock.

And LOL to all of the people not admitting this is an example of Apple copying design.

 

[Akarin]

I still wonder if either Apple didn't know that their clock was so close to the Swiss Railway design or just didn't care??

My take is that they knew exactly and that they did it on purpose and it's part of their marketing strategy to prove a point: design is not only important, you can also copyright it, whether it is a clock or rounded corners.

And my guess is that the settlement is some spare change for Apple but a huge win for our national trains company (yes, I'm Swiss).

 

[jaysen]

We're seeing how well that worked out for Samsung... ::shakes head::

 

[celo48]

I would fire the employee who confirmed this style clock to be on the iPad. If you choose, at least make a licensing agreement before. Probably, it would have been cheaper than doing the agreement now.

 

[iBreatheApple]

It's nice but geez. And I'm sure whatever they paid is hysterical compared to cash on hand but I'd have just tossed the design and put a couple new ones in there. Oh well, looks nice.

 

[TitoC]

This is a clock-face that I could have designed. It's so basic and derivative. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple's designer came up with it on his/her own coincidentally. But yeah, it would look like a total ripoff if it weren't so generic. I would have rejected this design.

I am assuming then that you are not a designer by trade or education. Sometimes the simpler things are the clearest solutions. Just because it is simple and basic doesn't mean it doesn't work or a bad design or "generic." Adding a bunch of curly "Q"s and swirls doesn't make it a better design. The Swiss Railway Clock was designed in 1944 to be used in a very large environment and to be seen far away and easily read. It is clean and elegant. Just because it has simple features doesn't make it generic, bad or ugly. On the contrary, it has been included at the Design Museum in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

 

[BC2009]

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?".

I'm sure there millions of people who never saw it before iOS 6. I am one of them. I have never been to Switzerland and had never seen that clock before. It is completely likely that designers in a US based company had no idea that this clock was famous.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

im not following you. who exactly is the winner and who is the loser??

They didn't make this on their own.

 

[Lazlow]

Good. I hate it when big companies get away with IP theft.

amen.

 

[gnasher729]

Probably cheaper than fighting Apple in court!

That being a Swiss court and not a US court, quite possible that it would have cost nothing to fight Apple in court as long as you win.

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Apple see's no problem in copying such a classic, well known design yet every other week they are knocking on Samsung's door with a patent suit for one thing or another.

Clearly Apple saw a problem - that's why they are licensing the design now. And I bet that they would have got cheaper license terms if they had _first_ licensed and then used the design and not the other way round.

Apple has also been offering patent licenses to Samsung which Samsung has rejected, so I can't quite see what your point would be.

 

[Michael Belisle]

Actually no. The picture on the left is photoshopped.

Has it? Gizmodo's review of the original iPhone shows the same calculator.

Of course it's not the calculator design now, which leads me to wonder why they changed it...

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No, I only have written articles online. I never created an online portfolio... I've considered it, but never felt the pressure because I've been with the same publisher for 13 years.

That's good, because we were all getting ready to tell you that your graphic design sense sucks.

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Well if you look closely at the "Apple's copy" its not entirely exact. I'd hate to be pedantic but every single proportion is different, so that tells me a lot! Means that apple UI designer tried to get away with using this unlicensed, but they obviously failed so had to pay in the end. Its an imitation of the Swiss design...similar how apple imitates Canon camera in the iPhoto icon. In this case, because they now paid for a license they should change the proportions so that it matches, because the design just doesn't look as nice compared to official.

That's how you know that the Apple version was a knockoff. I was going to say, "Now that they licensed it, will they fix the proportions?" but you pretty much already covered that.

 

[Carouser]

I'm sure there millions of people who never saw it before iOS 6. I am one of them. I have never been to Switzerland and had never seen that clock before. It is completely likely that designers in a US based company had no idea that this clock was famous.

No graphic designer good enough to work at Apple would be so ignorant. It's not only known in Switzerland. Did you miss all the posters saying this clock face is exhibited in the MOMA? It's like a US car designer saying they disn't know the Porsche 911 was iconic because they've never been to Germany.

 

[turtlez]

Or, neither stole, but Apple paid out because the Swiss company was willing to license it to them. I expect that Samsung does not believe they stole anything and did not have an option to just pay a license to Apple to get rid of their litigation. Remember, agreements require to players.

Samsung must be quite stupid then. Spot the difference in this image

 

[turtlez]

Or, neither stole, but Apple paid out because the Swiss company was willing to license it to them. I expect that Samsung does not believe they stole anything and did not have an option to just pay a license to Apple to get rid of their litigation. Remember, agreements require to players.

Samsung must be quite stupid then. Spot the difference in this image

 

[Oracle1729]

SBB: "We want $20 million for licensing"

Apple: "How about a 20 free iPhone 5s?"

SBB: "20 iPhones?!? Absolutely not!"

Apple: "What if we can guarantee none of them are scratched?"

SBB: "Deal."

It would probably be easier for Apple to just pay the $20 million than find 20 unscratched iPhone 5's.

 

[RVdave]

Looks like the face on my first Boy Scout watch. Watch out Timex, you're next.