Clocking An eyeFull

[mongers]

What a clockup! Apple's Swiss clock knock-off clocks up $21m fine

Swiss railways laughing all the way to the Swiss bank

By Anna Leach • In Law • At 16:29 GMT 12th November 2012

Apple has paid 20m Swiss francs (£13m, $21m) to Switzerland's national railway operator, which holds the rights to the distinctive clock-face design used in the new iPad.

Last month Apple agreed to shell out for a licence, but the multi-million-dollar cost only emerged yesterday in a report by Swiss paper Tages-Anzeiger.



The clock in question: Apple's version, left; the Swiss railway version, right

The Cupertino giant tweaked the look of clock faces shown on iPads powered by iOS 6 by taking out the numbers, adding little black markers and putting a ball at the end of the second hand - a move that's left Apple rummaging its pockets for spare change.

rest of item here:
http://m.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/12/apple_payout_swiss_railways/

[Neil]

Whereas if it was Microsoft, the EU would have hit them with a billion-dollar fine.

Europe is crooked.

[CountDeMoney]

   Good for Mondaine.

How the hell they thought they could get away with that one, with one of the most recognized clock faces in Western Civilization.  Oh, I know how:  they're Apple, and think they can get away with anything.

$21M is chump change, though.

[Neil]

Yeah, since Apple is a bunch of piece-of-shit patent-campers, they should have known that everything is patented in this day and age.

[Syt]

Whereas if it was Microsoft, the EU would have hit them with a billion-dollar fine.

Europe is crooked.

Switzerland is not in the EU.

[Neil]

Whereas if it was Microsoft, the EU would have hit them with a billion-dollar fine.

Europe is crooked.

Switzerland is not in the EU.

Doesn't matter.   Every European country is still bad.

[mongers]

Damn, every since reading this, I really want one of these Mondaine watches.