Of course, before Apple's earnings warning surprise and the subsequent stock collapse, we figured the big news would be the latest doings in Apple's lawsuit against Japanese iMac cloners K. K. Sotec. While it certainly can't claim top billing anymore, the Sotec case is still dirt worth dishing, especially since it represents a bright spot in what otherwise turned out to be a fairly dark day for our favorite computer company. If you can pry your eyes away from the gazillion reports of Apple's "stumble," you might recall that Sotec is the Japanese company that makes the eOne, a Wintel-based iMac clone only slightly less egregious a direct rip-off than the first Future Power copycat. Apple sued Sotec for violation of intellectual property rights-- a lawsuit that's one of three filed against Wintel manufacturers who opted to copy the iMac's distinctive look and feel instead of coming up with their own.

While as yet nothing's come of the U.S. lawsuits against Future Power and eMachines, perhaps the wheels of justice in Japan are just that much more efficient, because less than a month later, a judge has granted Apple a preliminary injunction that prevents Sotec from "manufacturing, selling, displaying, exporting or importing its eOne product," according to an Apple press release. While a preliminary injunction is just a temporary measure put in place until the actual case is resolved, it's a pretty big win for Apple in its struggle against those who would besmirch the iMac's good reputation with cheesy rip-offs.

This is cool in a lot of ways. First of all, several people had warned us that the Japanese courts tend to side with Japanese companies, so we shouldn't have expected much to come of the suit against Sotec. That only underscores the point that preliminary injunctions are granted when the judge feels that the plaintiff stands a good chance of proving its case. Plus, we think we read somewhere that the Sotec eOne actually held over 6% of the Japanese market, and now that the system is at least temporarily barred from sale, we imagine a good chunk of that 6% will revert to the iMac. Finally, don't forget that eMachines was not only too lazy to come up with an original design, but also too lazy to make their own iMac rip-off-- they're selling Sotec's eOne here in the U.S. So since the injunction prohibits the further export of the eOne until the case is resolved, eMachines might see their supply dry up, as well. Now lets hope that Apple's legal luck continues in Japan, and that the U.S. judges follow suit.