You know, you really just have to love these iMac copycat companies. First they figure they'll score some easy sales without expending an ounce of creative energy or a penny on industrial design research by swiping Apple's design and slapping it on top of a Wintel core. Then they act all shocked and outraged when Apple sues them. And then when the court grants Apple a preliminary injunction barring the sale of the iMac ripoffs until the case is resolved, those poor companies have to put a little thought into coming up with a way to change the products just enough to get around that pesky court order. Case in point? Sotec (the Japanese company that makes the eOne that eMachines is selling here in the States) ditched the translucent blue and white and went for a blueish silver instead. So the new eOne obviously doesn't infringe on Apple's trade dress rights, because now instead of possibly being mistaken for an iMac, the eOne could only be mistaken for an iMac that's been hit with a coat of silver spray paint.

And hey, guess what? Now that it's been over a week since Apple won an injunction against Future Power barring the sale of the ePower, too, the knockoff-maker's finally decided what to do: it's going to follow right in Sotec's footsteps. According to an article in The Register, Future Power is revamping the ePower to look "less like the iMac." Spray paint cans at the ready, folks. But wait-- what's this? Apparently Future Power's going the extra mile and is actually planning to change something other than the color of the case. The new ePower "sports a much squarer shell in a platinum grey casing... with a pastel-coloured oval on each side." Mmmm, sounds very, uh, interesting. That oughta shut up those fascist Apple lawyers; this new ePower could never be confused with an iMac, by virtue of the fact that Future Power's new design sounds downright ugly. There's no picture, so we can't say for sure, but if that's Future Power's strategy to avoid litigation, well, we think they're onto something.

What absolutely kills us, though, is the way that Future Power continues to claim that the ePower's original (and we mean that in the loosest sense of the word) design was not a copy of the iMac, and any similarity was simply a coincidence. After all, "it's got a different processor and a floppy drive," so how could it be an iMac copy? "There's only so many ways you can design an all-in-one," according to Future Power's spokesman. Uh-huh. Yet, strangely enough, the ePower didn't turn out looking just like the original Macintosh 128. Or the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh. Or the Power Mac G3 All-in-one. C'mon, guys, we're all adults, here-- just admit you boosted the iMac's design and move on. And for those of you who are hoping that Future Power hasn't totally lost its copycat nerve, fear not-- the new ePower will be available in blue, red, green, and orange. What, no Gra-- uh, purple? We bet next year's ePower Special Edition will come in an all-over dazzling hue called "grey."