Apple Watch goes on sale on April 24, but not in Switzerland. The spiritual home of the wristwatch, which Jony Ive famously (allegedly) said is in trouble due to the awesomeness of Apple’s upcoming wearable.
According to a designer who works at Apple, Jonathan Ive, Apple’s design chief, in bragging about how cool he thought the iWatch was shaping up to be, gleefully said Switzerland is in trouble — though he chose a much bolder term for “trouble” to express how he thought the watchmaking nation might be in a tough predicament when Apple’s watch comes out.
A trademark claim made by a company called Leonard Timepieces for a watch and watch parts carrying the image of an apple and the English word “APPLE.” First filed in 1985 — not too long after Apple originally launched the Mac — the 30-year trademark expires on December 5, 2015.
The trademark owner (who seems to have never actually made and sold his “Apple watch”) is currently negotiating with Apple to purchase the trademark (“at no doubt a high cost”) and, until this is done, is completely blocking both marketing and sales of the Apple Watch in Switzerland
Of course, it would make a lot of sense for other rival watch-makers to pool their resources to try and persuade the owner to renew the trademark come December, although I’d expect a deal to be reached with Apple. Then again, when you consider how important Swiss watches are as an export for Switzerland, it’s impossible to entirely predict how courts will rule — if things get that far.
via RTS
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