As some might recall, part of Apple‘s move to iOS 6 included a new clock design. Unfortunately for them, this clock design was suspiciously similar to the one used by Swiss national rail company SBB. They knew it, and SBB knew it. Everyone that even so much as glanced at the two designs knew it. So, like usual, Apple settled with SBB for an undisclosed sum in order to license the design. How much is a clock design worth? Well, when you’re licensing it after the fact, it looks like a clock design is worth around $21 million.
AFP explains:
US tech giant Apple has dished out 20 million Swiss francs ($21 million, 17 million euros) to compensate Swiss national rail operator SBB for using its famous clock without permission, a Swiss daily reported Saturday.
The company agreed in October to pay the lump sum so it could continue using SBB’s Swiss-designed station clock face on its iPads and iPhones, the Tages-Anzeiger daily reported on its website, quoting several unnamed sources.
Neither company has officially confirmed this figure, but considering the number of times iOS 6 has been downloaded, it’s actually on the low side compared to what the rail company could have made through litigation. Settling out of court was probably in Apple’s best interest, as the number of lawsuits they’re currently embroiled in boggles the mind.
(AFP via CNET News, image via Wikipedia)
- Apple probably should have checked on the owners of the design
- At least they had the money to pay them off
- This has worked out a lot better than their Samsung trial
