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Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

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Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#131

Post by pja »

devcpp wrote: post #128
Tichy wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was an argument in the recent Apple vs Samsung court battle. Samsung's prior art was dismissed, one of the jurors explained that it didn't count because the software of the prior art phone would not run on a modern phone.

That sounds quite arbitrary, and if anything, it's the first time I've heard about this "principle".

It wasn't an argument made in the courtroom, it was an argument made by one of the jurors during their deliberations. Obviously it's completely false: which processor a the program runs on ought to make no difference whatsoever to whether a system including that program infringes a patent.

In a just world, this would constitute grounds for an appeal by Samsung all by itself, but I've no idea what the legal position is.

Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#132

Post by belorn »

dmishe wrote: post #72
zaphar wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you make an accusation that I have seen no evidence of in the press. Are you possessed of information demonstrating intent on Samsung's part to confuse buyers?

Isn't that what dilution of trade dress is?

The jury did find Samsung guilty of diluting the trade dress, but their reasoning was this: If the phone has space between the edge of the screen and the edge of the phone, then a consumer could be confused into thinking it is an iphone.

Thats it. That was the test. If you have some space at the bottom of the phone thats not part of the screen, go to jail and dont pass go.

Samsungs argument is that the space is functional, ie, serve a functional purpose, and thus make the bazel invalid as a trade dress for the iphone. Requirement for being granted trade dress is that it does not serve a utility or function outside of creating recognition in the consumer’s mind.

Take a stop sign and its color red. Can the color red become trade dress for signs? The answer is no, as the color serves a second purpose, which is that red is associated with danger/attention required information. Since the color now has a function, it can not be trade dress.

Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#133

Post by simonh »

The Swiss railway has contacted Apple, who have yet to respond. At that point, when Apple respond, we'll know whether they're hypocrites or not. If they refuse to change the design or licence it, they are.

Should they have copied it in the first place? No. They were wrong to do it and they need to make amends.

Is this similar to the Samsung case? Let's see, we have 400 page Samsung documents explaining in minute detail exactly how they intended to duplicate the iPhone user interface, and when asked to stop doing it they refused. Hopefully Apple will show more grace and honesty. Maybe they won't. But right now that's all up in the air.

Edit: I see this case as a litmus test for the anti-apple crowd the way the Aliyun case was a litmus test for Apple supporters. In the Aliyun case, it would be easy to accuse Google of hypocrisy and make jokes about openness when in fact it was just about Acer meeting their contractual obligations as members of the open handset alliance. In this case it would be easy to paint Apple a plagiarist and hypocrite, when they still clearly have an opportunity to come clean and make right. IMHO both are good ways to tell if someone is actually capable of being fair minded or not.

Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#134

Post by jeltz »

anonymouz wrote: post #121

It seems that a lot of people argue that this is entirely different from the Samsung v. Apple case, because this is just an "homage" and SBB/Mondaine don't directly compete with Apple. Hewever, SBB stands to loose a symbolic icon: What is now the Swiss railway clock may well become "that iOS clock". Mondaine will probably also not be happy when their watches will be recognized as "that iPad clock". It seems like a si…

Yeah, and I am not sure if the SBB would wish to license it to Apple. At least not for a price Apple would be willing to pay for just a clock.

Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#135

Post by Blara »

jopt wrote: post #123

It's a ripoff, and strange that Apple didn't license the design, assuming they did their homework and find the IP belonged to someone. It's not going to confuse anyone. Zero iPads will be returned because the customers thought this was the famous Swiss wall clock they'd heard so much about. So it doesn't have much to do with Apple v. Samsung. Let's not try so hard to make everything about that; high-resolution thinki…

are there any numbers on how many people have returned their samsung/iPhone because they thought it was the other one? I've heard this argument time and time again but have yet to see any numbers on it.

Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#136

Post by rmoriz »

Tichy wrote: post #116
rmoriz wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your arguments are invalid: 1. Swiss people are not forced to use the railway, the literally love it. Also the design was licensed by other European railway companies e.g. Deutsche Bahn 2. You can already buy mobile devices (watches) and even a licensed iOS mobile app with the design. E.g. the German edition http://www.bahn.de/bahnshop1435/shopxml/design/zeitzeichen/a... or the Swiss original http://www.sbbshop.ch/pu…

Yeah, but those are not really digital, so they are irrelevant.

The "SwissRailwayClock" iOS app is digital and… licensed.

German: http://www.blick.ch/news/wirtschaft/apple-klaut-bahnhofs-uhr...

Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#137

Post by rmc »

mc32 wrote: post #35
mladenkovacevic wrote: post #12

No, no, no you guys don't understand. This is not a cheap rip-off. It's an homage and the Swiss will be honoured that their famous clock has been elevated to the high-art status of Apple design and innovation. The critical eye of an average iPhone user will appreciate the fine craftsmanship & precision of the painstaking work that went into translating the iconic clock into an exact digital replica.

Serious question, if the Railway company was a government institution when the design was released, is the design not in the public domain? Nowadays, it seems they're quasi-governmental, but back then I think they were strictly a national org. It'd be like DARPA trying to get royalties on the internet or something similar. I could be wrong in this line of thinking, of course.

if the Railway company was a government institution when the design was released, is the design not in the public domain?

In the USA, the government cannot have copyright and everything is in the public domain. This is not the case in many other countries.

Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#138

Post by rmc »

jyrkesh wrote: post #126
Tichy wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried defending that notion in court? Actually I think the inventor is the party who has the highest marketing budget to spend.

Wait, was your OP satire or not?

Poe's law strikes again.

Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#139

Post by StavrosK »

achughes wrote: post #27
mladenkovacevic wrote: post #12

No, no, no you guys don't understand. This is not a cheap rip-off. It's an homage and the Swiss will be honoured that their famous clock has been elevated to the high-art status of Apple design and innovation. The critical eye of an average iPhone user will appreciate the fine craftsmanship & precision of the painstaking work that went into translating the iconic clock into an exact digital replica.

except it doesn't have the pause for 1.5 seconds at the 12 o'clock position... hardly a good copy

Does the original clock pause? If so, why?

Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

#140

Post by Tichy »

rmoriz wrote: post #136
Tichy wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but those are not really digital, so they are irrelevant.

The "SwissRailwayClock" iOS app is digital and… licensed. German: http://www.blick.ch/news/wirtschaft/apple-klaut-bahnhofs-uhr...

Didn't know that. But if it was an iPhone app before, I think it is OK. It is their phone and their platform, so they can do with it what they want.
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