Trademark infringement: Swatch takes action against Samsung
The Swatch Group sees its trademark rights violated and takes legal action against Samsung. The reason is virtual dials that look like existing Swatch brand watches.
As reported by the NZZ and other media last week, the Swiss watchmaker has filed for legal proceedings in the US. The bone of contention: Samsung's app store offers virtual watch faces for download for Samsung smartwatches that resemble watches from the Swatch Group.
The dials of smartwatches can be changed at will, giving the watch a certain look. The fact that virtual dials are reminiscent of well-known watch brands is not an isolated case - the brands Blancpain, Breguet, Glashütte, Hamilton, Jaquet Droz, Longines, Mido, Omega, Swatch and Tissot from the Swatch Group alone are said to be affected.
The Swatch Group is now demanding compensation. Although the designs are not created and provided by Samsung itself, but by third-party suppliers, the South Korean electronics giant does provide the platform and software.
The complaint does not come out of the blue. The Swatch Group had already informed Samsung twice around the turn of the year about objectionable watch face designs. Samsung then removed them from the store, but the Koreans did not respond to the request to automatically check the offers in the future and remove them in case of violations.
Example Tissot: The original (left) and the virtual replica (right).
