November 12, 1999 Web posted at: 8:58 a.m. EST (1358 GMT) by Jack McCarthy

From...

(IDG) -- Apple Computer is gaining ground in its battle to stop copycats from imitating the design of its popular, bubble-shaped iMac PC.

A U.S. federal judge is prepared to issue a preliminary injunction by the end of this week barring Future Power and South Korean firms Daewoo Telecom and its parent company Daewoo Group from manufacturing and selling their E-Power personal computer because of its similarity to the iMac, a court spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.

Apple filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif. against both companies in July of this year, alleging the firms' E-Power PCs deliberately copied the iMac design.

The judge indicated last Friday that he agreed with Apple's complaint.

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"The court concludes that Apple has shown a probability of success on its argument that the release of the E-Power is likely to cause customer confusion," U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel wrote in a response to arguments submitted by both parties.

"There is evidence that the defendants intended to copy iMac's appearance," the judge wrote in his response. "Notwithstanding the subtle differences argued by the defendants, the appearance of the iMac and the E-Power are strikingly similar."

The judge noted that Apple has spent $100 million promoting the iMac in its advertising campaigns.

Apple filed similar lawsuits earlier this year in an effort to protect the iMac design from imitators. In August, the U.S. vendor sued Sotec, based in Japan. Apple won a preliminary injunction in September in Tokyo District Court preventing Sotec from manufacturing or distributing its eOne computers.

Apple also sued eMachines in the San Jose U.S. District Court in August on similar grounds.

Jack McCarthy is San Francisco correspondent for the IDG News Service.