iWatch Trademark Battle May Land Apple In Court

Apple is being sued by a European software firm over the use of the moniker “iWatch.”

As Bloomberg noted in a Tuesday (July 14) article, Internet searches using “iWatch” as a key term will spur Google’s search engine to return ads for the Apple Watch.

In an effort to grab consumers who might be looking for the Apple Watch but typed in the other name, Apple pays Google to run the ads. And now, says Bloomberg, Probendi, a Dublin-based software developer that owns the iWatch trademark throughout Europe, is seeking its day in court.

Late last month the Irish software development studio filed an “urgent procedure” with a court in Milan, Italy, against Apple. The filing states that the tech behemoth “has systematically used iWatch wording on Google search engine in order to direct customers to its own website, advertising Apple Watch,” according to Bloomberg.

Daniele Di Salvo, cofounder of Probendi, told Bloomberg last year that the company had warned Apple against using iWatch as a term. In part that’s tied to the fact that the smaller firm is working on a smart watch that would be price competitive with Apple, run on Google’s Android platform and be known as the iWatch. That project now is “in standby,” Di Salvo told Bloomberg.

Two unnamed sources told Bloomberg that Probendi had an audit conducted by Barzano & Zanardo, a firm specialized in copyright. According to the unnamed sources (so requested because the review remains confidential), that audit valued the iWatch trademark at $97 million. Giacomo Bonelli, a lawyer representing Probendi, told the newswire that “Apple never replied to our requests and objections, while Google said they are not responsible for links.”

Three years ago, Apple paid $60 million to settle a trademark dispute in China over using the iPad name.

A hearing for the iWatch case is scheduled for Nov. 11, Bloomberg stated.

Bloomberg also noted that over the past few years companies as diverse as American Airlines, Geico and Rosetta Stone have disputed Google’s practices, or those of its advertisers, in court, “often unsuccessfully.”

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