<div class="input-group col-md-12">
  <span class="fa fa-remove" ng-click="vm.clear()"></span>
  <input type="text" class="search-query form-control" placeholder="search"
    ng-model="vm.filter",
    ng-keyup="vm.search()"
  />
</div>

<div class="input-group col-md-12">
  <span class="fa fa-remove"
    ng-click="vm.clear()"
    ng-show="vm.filter"
  ></span>
  <input type="text" class="search-query form-control" placeholder="filter"
    ng-model="vm.filter",
    ng-keyup="vm.search()"
  />
</div>

Hide the clear filter button, when there's nothing to clear
Hide the clear filter button, when there's nothing to clear
