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Fujitsu clones iMac – Apple lawyers on alert

All-in-one, multi-colour design says it all

Fujistu has become the latest PC vendor to hop onto the iMac bandwagon, with a machine that, like eMachines eOne and Future Power's ePower, apes Apple's all-in-one multi-hued desktop to such an extent that it could land the Japanese giant in court. Fujitsu's MFV DeskPower Pliche 243 is based on a 433MHz Celeron CPU and ships with a 10.2GB hard drive, 192MB RAM, USB ports, ATI Rage Mobility (in a desktop?) graphics, CD-ROM drive. Alas, not being Japanese readers we can't quite make out all the details of the machine's configuration, But it's not its spec. that draws attention -- rather it's its uncanny resemblance to a squashed iMac. Such a similarity between the iMac and PCs from eMachines and Future Power this summer set Apple's lawyers onto both companies in their home territory of Taiwan, in the US and, in eMachines' case, against its Japanese distributor, Sotec. Subsequently, eMachines modified its machine at Sotec's insistence and eliminated the eOne's blue and white two-tone colour scheme in favour of a uniform gloss-grey look -- a colour scheme that, in some respects, resembles Apple's newest iMac, the high-end iMac DV Special Edition. No wonder Apple Japan is believed to be deciding whether the machine still infringes Apple's trademarks, as the Mac maker claimed the original eOne did. Perhaps Fujitsu can now expect a similar reaction from Apple. Ironically, last year when Fujitsu began shipping the first models in the Pliche line, while they too sported an all-in-one case design, they bore little resemblance to the iMac. ®

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