14 DAY TRIAL // Apple may have a hard time pursuing the iWatch trademark, as Swiss watch-maker Swatch is already seeking to block the attempt for fear it will cause confusion among customers, as the company sells a line of watches called iSwatch.
According to a rough machine translation, Serena Chiesura, head of corporate communications, The Swatch Group Ltd..., told Watson, “We assess the likelihood of confusion as given, the marks are confusingly similar. In all countries where the mark is registered, we [went] against it before.”
Swatch has reportedly registered the iSwatch name in tens of countries.
Apple is known to prefer the product name that has the most familiar ring to it, such as iPod, iPad, iPhone, so it makes sense that it wants to call its upcoming wearable gizmo the “iWatch.”
Avid fans will recall that the Cupertino giant went through quite a few hurdles to secure the iPad trademark, and even the iPhone name in some countries. In Brazil, for example, it lost the iPhone trademark to Gradiente, a seller of Android smartphones that apparently used the name before Apple got around to applying for the trademark in the country.
But Swatch might not have anything to fight for, going by one ex Apple staffer who decided to spill the beans about the company’s upcoming plans using a social network that enables people to talk about anything they want, anonymously.
He revealed on Secret that “Apple's new EarPods will have sensors in them, for heart rate & blood pressure,” adding, “It's meant to be a gateway product to the other one.” Asked by a fellow user if he was referring to the iWatch, the former Apple employee replied, “Name isn't final yet. But yes. That one.”
We analyzed the context in which this leak emerged and concluded that it’s most likely accurate, not to mention that it also makes sense for Apple to try and entice the public with this type of hardware. Plus, we hear that headphones like these have been around for a while.
But then one big question remains unanswered: if not iWatch, then what? Apple has very little options for a wearable gizmo, unlike the time the press was juggling with terms like iSlate, iSlab, or iTab, for the tablet computer that eventually launched as the iPad.
iClock is certainly not an appropriate name, and neither is iTime. So what do you reckon Apple will choose if indeed prevented by the Swiss watch maker to secure the iWatch trademark?