Swiss Federal Railway: Apple's Clock App Rips Off Our Iconic Clock
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Legions of unhappy iOS 6 upgraders have been complaining about the operating system's buggy new Maps feature; now, it appears that Apple engineers may have dropped the ball on time, too, and not just space. The Swiss Federal Railway service claims that the iPad's new Clock app rips off the look of its iconic -- as well as trademarked and copyrighted -- Swiss Railway Clock, the Swedish newspaper Blick reports.
A spokesman said that the railway is attempting to reach Apple to hash out a resolution that leaves all parties satisfied, both legally and financially. Blick reports that the railway's braintrust is upset that the clock's image was used without permission.
The Swiss Federal Railway licenses out the clock's design, most notably for the replica watches sold around the world by Mondaine, a Swiss watchmaker. There's also a legally licensed Swiss Railway Clock app available through iTunes. The developer of the app isn't happy with the iOS 6 Clock app, Blick reports.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Apple's Swiss branch has been pointing journalistic inquiries to the company's Cupertino, California headquarters, which no doubt has its hands full with today's iPhone 5 launch.
Somewhat ironically, Apple claimed that Samsung "slavishly copied" its designs in its recent court case. Don't expect this copyright flare-up to land before a judge, though; we have no doubt that Apple and the Swiss Federal Railway will work out a compromise -- or Apple will just re-skin the iPad clock app. The ad firm Chitika reports that iOS 6 has already been installed on 15 percent of all iOS devices.