Swiss railway, watch firms angry over new iPad Clock app
updated 03:24 pm EDT, Thu September 20, 2012
App borrows look from Swiss clock design
Two Swiss companies -- Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and watchmaker Mondaine -- are considering pursuing Apple over the new Clock app in the iPad version of iOS 6, according to Blick.ch. The look of the clocks in the app is said to resemble a design originally used in Swiss railway stations and currently licensed by Mondaine. A spokesman for SBB, Reto Kormann, says that the railway has already contacted Apple, while Mondaine CEO André Bernheim has confirmed an intent to go after Apple.
iOS 6 is the first edition of iOS to include a native iPad Clock app; previously iPad owners had to download third-party software. The app can track times in several cities simultaneously, also displaying local weather. More importantly it includes native alarm, timer, and stopwatch functions, which can be important for travel or bedside use.



Swiss clock problem solved.

Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: 03-24-09
I did some investigation and they are very similar (if not exact) and there is a US patent covering the watch (gets crazy with one patent referencing a bunch of others) but this is one of those products that should be considered generic by now. A watch/clock has 60 tick marks, 12 or which are larger. That's a typical clock. The fact Apple made the ticks as square end lines has been done many times. The red second sweep hand might be what gets them in trouble but even if they changed to a green or blue one, how many versions of the same basic, accepted design can you make and have the patent office patent?
I'm not talking about round corners after all....