According to multiple media sources, Apple recently lodged a complaint with the Swiss Federal Administrative Court (SFAC) for the watch company's ‘Tick different’ slogan being used to market the Swatch Bellamy watch.
The technology giant claimed it was a play on its ‘Think different’ advertising campaign that was used between 1997 and 2002. Apple also lodged a complaint with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property but this was dismissed.
A report by Swiss news website Watson stated that Swatch CEO Nick Hayek described the similarity as coincidental, adding that the slogan was a nod to its 1980s campaign ‘Always different, always new.’
The ‘Tick different’ phrase has reportedly only been used for the Swatch Bellamy range of watches so far but the trademark is believed to cover a number of potential applications.
In the complaint filed with the SFAC, Apple’s lawyers described ‘Tick different’ as long considered “the core of the Apple brand”.
In order to successfully argue its case, Apple will reportedly need to prove that at least 50 per cent of Swiss consumers associate ‘Think different’ with Apple branding.
Interestingly, Swatch was believed to have been granted a trademark for the ‘Tick different’ phrase in the US in 2015.
Previous conflicts
This isn’t the first time Swatch and Apple have clashed over trademarks. As previously reported by Jeweller, Swatch challenged Apple on its trademark applications for ‘iWatch' in a number of countries in 2014.
It was widely speculated that ‘iWatch’ would be the name used for Apple’s smartwatch device, which was eventually called ‘Apple Watch’.
According to reports, Swatch was concerned that the name was too similar to its own ‘iSwatch’ trademark.
Apple appealed the decision, stating the preface ‘i’ was “widely known as a naming convention” of Apple products.
While Apple filed for 'iWatch' trademarks in numerous countries including Japan, Mexico and Taiwan, the application was upheld by the UK Intellectual Property Office in September 2016. It ruled that the name was indeed too close to ‘iSwatch’ and ‘Swatch’.
Swatch also successfully trademarked ‘One more thing’, a catch phrase Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs used before unveiling Apple products. However, according to multiple reports, Hayek argued that the 1970s TV Series Columbo was the inspiration behind the phrase and not Apple.
Jeweller contacted Apple and Swatch for comment but neither responded at the time of publication.
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