Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will finally get the chance to meet the Swiss clock maker who accused them of allegedly stealing their design. It was reported via global news service AFP, that the Swiss Federal Railway Service (commonly referred to as SBB) accused the world’s most valuable company of ripping off their clock designs on their virtual clock for the iOS 6 application.
It’s also reported that in just a matter of days or weeks, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will meet up with SBB in order to come up with an official agreement that will hopefully prevent the matters from going to court. Apple recently introduced the design on their iOS 6 but SBB claims that design was originally created by Hans Hilfiker in 1944, when he was employed by SBB. The same design is used on the railway system, and it was also licensed to Mondaine, a watch maker from Switzerland.
The spokeswoman for the clock maker also told AFP that the company is not seeking financial compensation from Apple, and that they are quite proud that the tech company chose their design for iOS 6.
This isn’t the first time that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has gotten involved in litigations over design rights. Back in 2009, they asked Tapbots (a popular mobile app developer) to change the design of their clock icon in it’s pocket converter application, as it looked eerily similar to the one on Apple’s very own phone app.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has also taken many companies to court over patents they claimed to have been based off of their designs.
It’s good to know that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and SBB are ready to reach an agreement, instead of automatically taking the issue to court, as that would cost the company a lot of money and time. If only most design or patent issues took this approach first, maybe more companies would save money in the long run. That would be a win-win for everyone.
