Swiss Launch of Apple Watch Hit By Patent Issue

Posted by timothy on Sunday April 5, 2015 @05:30AM from the called-dibs-too-late dept.

wabrandsma points out this Reuters story, according to which: Apple is not able to launch its new smartwatch in Switzerland until at least the end of this year because of an intellectual property rights issue, Swiss broadcaster RTS reported on its website. The U.S. tech giant cannot use the image of an apple nor the word 'apple' to launch its watch within Switzerland, the home of luxury watches, because of a patent from 1985, RTS reported, citing a document from the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.

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It's a trademark by Paul+Bristow · 2015-04-05 05:51 · Score: 5, Informative

Looking at the RTS article (in French) it's clearly a trademark issue, not a patent.
Normally patents expire 20 years after filing, so Reuters should have smelled a rat.

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- Paul