“After reports of Apple’s trademarking of the term ‘iWatch’ in a number of countries, it has been discovered that the name has already been trademarked for some time in the US, the UK and, in what could be a troubling development, China,” Electronista reports.
“In fact, China has previously trademarked both the term ‘iWatch’ and ‘iWatching,’ reports Chinese news journal Sina Tech,” Electronista reports. “In the US, a company that was trying to raise funds to manufacture a smartwatch (but was unsuccessful) already trademarked the name, while the UK trademark is used for a monitoring smartphone app.”
Electronista reports, “Apple is doubtless aware of the other trademarks, and would probably find it fairly easy to negotiate deals with the US and UK trademark holders — but the Chinese system is, as the iPad maker has already discovered, a different kettle of fish.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Perhaps these “iWatch” trademarks are not for wearable computing devices worn on the wrist, but for some future device upon which you “watch” TV shows and movies (think: iTV).
I don’t don’t think China is going to be that big of a deal. First of all there doesn’t seem to be a product associated with the mark. Unlike the “owners” of the Chinese iPad mark, the iWatch people aren’t desperate for cash. That makes any deal with Apple profitable.
I don’t understand why it will be more difficult to “make a deal” for a trademarked name in China, especially if negotiations are completed BEFORE the product is released.
although I have no problems with iPhone , iPad etc names I’ve always wondered why Apple doesn’t just call them Apple Phone or Apple Watch which should’t give them any trademark issues as Apple is their own trademark.
They still have Apple over their stores etc
IPhone, iPad name have already given them so many headaches … millions of dollars in payment (not even counting lawyers fees) with products even banned from certain countries.
Do people really care that it’s an Apple Pad and not an iPad? (I bet instinctively they’ll just shortened it to ‘The Pad” )
(i know the history of the iMac which started it but keeping it for future products when everyone is ‘i’ everything seems such a pain)
It’s simply a matter of how it rolls off the tongue and identifies the overall brand. I really don’t feel that Apple phone, Apple watch really stimulates the excitement detectors, they just sound literal and boring. Yes they could go for a different name but easier said than done and would now be out of cinque with the overall brand.
” identifies the overall brand.”
like I said people has ‘i’ everything from iPocket to iWallet to iBag so how does that identifies the overall brand?
also Apple has the Apple TV.
Apple stores not iStores.
the original use of the i word was iMac for ‘internet Mac’.
I agree that iPad sounds easier off the tongue than Apple Pad but like I said most likely people will start just calling it The Pad.
and you all are just looking at it at a simplistic level.
Tying all apple’s products as Apple has incremental value. You’ll be surprised that many people especially overseas realize the iPhone maker is also the maker of Macs etc. Mac sales are way lower than iPhone sales.
Branding them as Apple Mac,
Apple iMac
Apple Pad
Apple Watch etc
has I believe a powerful effect in introducing people to Apple’s Family of Products.
The i name for apple was a sliding effect from imac to iPod (creating it’s own momentum which I believe is not good long term. Like I said EVERYBODY is using ‘i’ for everything. The original iPod wasn’t even ‘ internet or i connected .
Also like i said trying to fight for the i name ends up in endless hassles.
The iPad name fight in China lost apple iPad sales for months and cost Apple 60 million. (to put that into context Amazon’s Christmas quarter profits was only about 80 million and to generate that they had to earn billions in sales. I.e for a ‘name’ it cost apple near a major corporations
WORLDWIDE PROFITS FOR A QUARTER! ) Multiply fights in 60 or so countries (everybody knows apple is rich )….
typo:
“you’ll be surprised that many people especially overseas realize the iPhone maker is also the maker of Macs etc”
should be of course
“… overseas DO NOT realize… “
Maybe this is all a smokescreen. Remember when Apple registered the trademark of iSlate, or something like that, just before the iPad came out?
Go to trademarkia.com and look up IWATCH. It shows the status of Omg Electronics, LLC’s iWatch trademark as OPPOSITION PENDING. One interesting thing about that is that they haven’t yet registered a First Use in Commerce. I know one thing: if I had a trademark on something and Apple opposed it, our IP lawyer would go buy a Tesla Roadster in a fit of glee. Their legal team can bankrupt you.