It does look remarkably similar. Maybe Apple should pay up and license the design.

Or maybe, just maybe, Apple shouldn't steal other people's stuff whilst complaining about it happening to them.

Let's see if Apple has more cash than the Swiss government...

Switzerland can simply print money. Though maybe Apple did not know who owned the copyright. I still think that they should license it.

Indeed - it's not as though Switzerland is famous for its clocks

Hang on...

I am with the Swiss on this, you will not have any argument from me re the design.

My point. albeit badly made, was that when checking the provenance of of clock design, a sensible person might be tempted to start with the one country that is famous for clocks.

Some would say so can Apple, they just have to release another gadget .


Not knowing it who was copyright to is no excuse. A good designer who starts from a design he or she has seen somewhere before but can't remember where should be smart enough to check. Thats what Google image search is for. Assuming Google isn't banned inside Apple HQ...

No, they should pay the licence fee, with a generous donation on top to boot. It's not as if they can't afford it. Although it's not worth going to court over because I'm not sure the Swiss railway system would have suffered any sort of financial damage from this, so there'd be no redress over the licence fee anyway. But Apple should pay because it's the right thing to do. I suspect they will do just that.

Jon

We agree that that should pay up. Simply not worth going to court over.

It's not like Apple are cash strapped. Pay the bill. Be done with it. Hell, licence it and everyone's a winner. Official Swiss clock for iPad. Done.

I wonder if these are based on the Swiss design too? They certainly look very similar.



EDIT: Ah, turns out they are.

Certainly seem so. The kicker is the circular 'counterweight' second hand. It serves no function to have it that way, so it can only really be a copy. What you don't know is if whoever did those clocks paid for a licence or not.

Jon

I would imagine that they did. Probably the manufacturer paid.

As its licensed around the world the design will have a monetary value attached to it and as Apple have argued over other companies copying there designs and asking for mahoosive damages.. its a bit ironic.

Do we actually know whether Apple has actually licensed this design or not?