Once You Clone a Mac, You Never Go Back

Just make sure you clone the hardware and leave the software behind.

Otherwise, a U.S. District Court might decide that you have "violated Apple's exclusive reproduction right, distribution right, and right to create derivative works." In fact, that's just what happened in 2009. And according to

, The U.S. Supreme Court has denied an appeal made by Psystar, the world-renowned Mac cloning company. For those of you who aren't aware, there was once a time when Psystar used to buy up copies of the Mac OS software and throw it onto its own cheaply made computers. The company might have gotten away with this questionable act if it hadn't chosen to name the computers "OpenMac." Nonetheless, that's the name Psystar chose, causing Apple

to take the firm to court over the matter. Not surprisingly, Apple won. While it makes sense for a U.S. District Court to side with Apple in this circumstance, it is somewhat surprising that a similar position has not been taken with the

. No, I do not think that every company in the world should bow to Apple and stop selling their similar-looking products. But isn't it strange that every manufacturer in the world is allowed to produce a MacBook clone? Why aren't Apple's designs protected more forcefully under the law? Perhaps the question we should be asking is why Apple is quick to fight iPhone and iPad clones but leaves the MacBook clones untouched. It might be because of the company's ability to dominate the smartphone and tablet market, which has already been proven. Laptops, however, have never been Apple's strong suit. For every MacBook you see someone using on a plane, you will find a dozen crappy laptops from other manufacturers. That said, Apple is the leader of the "thin" laptop market. So why isn't it going after those who are cloning the MacBook Air?