Apple has filed an Apple Watch trademark application for use of the term in Russia. Said application claims a priority registration date of December 3, 2012, based upon a prior iWatch trademark application filed in Jamaica. If both applications are granted, and Apple subsequently files an iWatch trademark application in the United States, they would receive the December 3, 2013 priority registration date for that application as well. Whether or not Apple is successful in locking up the term, it appears as if Apple’s smartwatch, whatever the name might be, will shortly emerge from the hallowed depths of the Cupertino vaults.
Companies, like Apple, frequently file for trademark applications in obscure countries in order to secure intellectual property rights without telegraphing new product development trade secrets. This allows them to secure a priority date for an intended future trademark application filing in their home country. And, that is exactly what Apple appears to be doing here.
Apple’s Russian iWatch trademark application seeks protection of the intellectual property as it applies to International Class 9, protecting computers and peripherals, and International Class 14, protecting watches. This may be an issue for Apple as Viva Vision has a registered trademark in Class 9 for the term iWatch, covering “computer software and hardware” and have used it in commerce since 1999. However, knowing Apple, a deal to license the name has likely already been struck. It is also interesting to note that there are four recently filed iWatch trademark applications. Two of these applications precede Apple’s Jamaican priority registration date and are currently in front of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board being opposed by smartwatch manufacturer i’m Watch. It is all terribly convoluted …
What does this filing say for WWDC 2013? Not a whole lot. Companies, such as Apple, often file trademark applications well in advance of actually releasing a product. However, when coupled with recently released slap bracelet watch and shaped battery patent filings, leaks of Foxconn iWatch prototypes, and Tim Cook’s excitement about wearable computing, all signs point to an iDevice assimilating technophile wrists before the end of the year. Stay tuned …
Source
Apple iWatch Trademark: [Company Website]
