Brand owner iWatch sues Apple

We all remember how at the beginning of this year, Apple released its new product - the iWatch watch. The most meticulous of readers may notice that there is no product like “iWatch”, this is only the “marketing” name of Apple's smart watches, which are officially called Apple Watch . In any case, marketers actively used this more popular and understandable name for the public during an advertising campaign while promoting a new product.

But the iWatch brand already had an owner by that time - the Irish company Probendi, which naturally filed a lawsuit against Apple in a Milan court, reports Bloomberg .
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Apple never owned the rights to the iWatch brand, but used public misinformation to advertise its watches to people whose search queries contain the brand name of the Irish, which is reflected in the text of the lawsuit of the latter: “Apple systematically uses the wording iWatch “As the keyword for displaying advertisements for their product to Google users.”

But the facts are not in favor of Probendi. The practice of using other people's trademarks with binding advertising shows to them is a common thing for the United States and Europe, despite numerous lawsuits, the production of which has dragged out for many years. Among the victims of such actions are such brands as Geico (a lawsuit filed against Google), Rosetta Stone and American Airlanes. While some companies exploit other people's trademarks, others have to sue the search giant.

The Irish do not have a product called iWatch, although, according to Daniel DiSalvo, co-founder of the company, they are working on creating smart watches for the Android platform, the development of which is now “on hold”.

The main emphasis in the claim requirement of Probendi is placed on their website indicating the brand, as well as the fact that the iWatch brand was registered in the territory of the European Union as far back as 2008.

According to the lawsuit, the Irish company estimates the value of its trademark in the region of $ 97 million. The petition was filed on June 26 of this year, the hearing on the case is scheduled for November 11, 2015.