The SBB Group expressed anger with Apple (AAPL) iOS 6 clock application interface design which adopted the classic Swiss watch interface, saying the iOS 6 clock design violate SBB’s clock design patent.
SBB said that the watch interface infringed by Apple was designed by Hans Hilfiker in 1944, and later this design was owned by SBB and Switzerland government, and SBB has the trademark right and copyright of the design. SBB said the company is currently negotiating with Apple on the authorization, and the issue will be resolved within the coming weeks after the two companies signed relevant agreements. Previously, Mondaine Watch was authorized by SBB to obtain the right of use of the watch interface.
SBB spokesman said what they are most interested in was not the money, instead, SBB is very proud that Apple adopted this design and if they two companies can sign a cooperation agreement, it will achieve a win-win situation. Apple spokesman Adam Howorth pointed out that the infringing design only appears on the iPad, while not on iPhone.
Another big news about Apple: A local German court on Friday ruled that Samsung and Google’s (GOOG) Motorola Mobility did not infringe Apple’s patents.
Mannheim District Court on Friday said the applications on Samsung and Motorola mobile phones are completely different from the multi-touch technology patents related functions claimed by Apple, therefore, the two companies did not infringe Apple’s patents.
For Google, the award is not a small consolation. Four weeks ago, an U.S. court just ruled that Samsung’s Andriod devices violated Apple’s patents and Samsung has to pay Apple $1.05 billion as compensation.
For the result, Samsung said in an e-mailed statement it is very satisfied with that its products do not infringe Apple’s intellectual property.
Investment firm Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster Friday released a research report saying that the number of people queuing up to buy Apple iPhone 5 grew by 83% over the same period last year. He predicted Apple will sell 8 million iPhone 5 as of this weekend. The research firm reiterated its Overweithg rating on APPL stock, and set the target on APPL stock price at $910.
Research firm Crownwell, Wedon & Co.is very optimistic on the growth potential of Apple, and it raised the revenue and EPS estimates for Apple and raised the target on AAPL stock price from $770 to $840. AAPL stock price edged up 0.20%, or $1.39, to $700.09 with 20.41 million shares traded, higher than the daily average of 14.45 million shares. Apple has a market cap of $656.27 billion and a P/E multiple of 16.46. Sine the release of iPhone 5 on Wednesday last week, AAPL stock price has risen more than 4%.