Dive Brief:
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Much of the world was already calling Apple’s much anticipated wearable the “iWatch” before its unveiling, and were intrigued when CEO Tim Cook simply called it the “Apple Watch” at the company’s big event last month. Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts announced that the Apple Watch will go on sale this spring, later than first anticipated.
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The tech and retail giant was beaten to the punch on the “iWatch” name in the European Union because a Dublin-based software company already trademarked it.
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In the U.S., a trademark is established by naming a product, so the first to use a name has the trademark. In the EU, the first to trademark the name gets it.
Dive Insight:
When it comes to trademarks, Apple has been in similar straits before. The tech giant sued Amazon over the use of the term “Appstore,” and didn’t get anywhere. It paid $60 million to settle a dispute in China over the “iPad” name, and gave up on “iTV” because a British television name had the trademark. Irish software company Probendi owns the trademark “iWatch” in the EU and is actively developing a wearable that will bear that name.
This time, though, the company would have clear rights to the name, perhaps if it had been a bit less flat-footed in getting its trademark paperwork into the EU. Anyway, now we know why it's not an "iWatch," although we don't know exactly why it's not arriving until later next year.