Apple Reportedly Paid $21 Million for Rights to Swiss Railways Clock Design

ios 6 ipad clock iconBack in September, the Swiss Federal Railways accused Apple of copying its iconic clock design for the new Clock app for iPad included as part of iOS 6. Several weeks later, the agency announced that the dispute had been settled with Apple signing a licensing agreement for the design, although terms of the agreement were not announced.

Tages-Anzeiger now reports [Google translation] that the licensing agreement resulted in Apple making a payment of approximately 20 million Swiss francs ($21 million) to the agency. The report indicates that amount has been leaked by several sources, but the Swiss Federal Railways and Apple have refused to comment on the situation.

The report also suggests that the licensing agreement may not provide any compensation to watchmaker Mondaine, which has been the sole consumer-focused licensee of the design. Mondaine is reportedly happy that Apple has provided increased visibility for the clock design, but remains in discussions with the Swiss Federal Railways over the issue in order to ensure that it is resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...

Top Rated Comments

thelonelylimo Avatar
162 months ago
time is money.
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
neiltc13 Avatar
162 months ago
Or you could look at it another way - 21 million that could have been spent upgrading Mac Pro or fixing Final Cut Pro X, but they chose to spend it on a fancy clock instead.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tekno Avatar
162 months ago
Glad Apple didn't get away with stealing a trademark. If they're going to go after other companies that borrow from them, they need to pay-up to other companies.

But, with retrospect, I bet they'd rather have just got one of their overpaid designers to spend half an hour drawing a generic clock icon rather than spending $21m.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antic Avatar
162 months ago
Puts things into perspective.
Sandy relief 2.5 million $
Clock face. 21 million $
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HarryKeogh Avatar
162 months ago
So essentially they paid 21 million bucks for the styling of that second hand.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayducharme Avatar
162 months ago
I wonder if that was yet another thing that led to Forstall's departure.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)