Following a legal dispute in favour of Swatch a year ago, the British Court of Appeal has now also ruled in favour of the Biel-based watch manufacturer.
Swatch announced on Friday afternoon that the Court of Appeal in London had dismissed Samsung’s appeal in its entirety in the dispute over internet trademark rights.
This confirms the decision made a year ago that certain watch face apps for Samsung smartwatches that can be downloaded from the Galaxy App Store infringe the rights of Swatch brands. The brands in question include Omega, Tissot, Longines and Swatch.
Samsung had offered digital watch faces for its smartwatches that resembled the Swiss group’s brands. This was categorised as illegal by the High Court of Justice in London a year ago.
According to the Court of Appeal, the fact that the apps had been developed by third-party companies did not change the guilty verdict.
“The Swatch Group is delighted with the judgement, which deals with a new form of trademark infringement in the digital age and the liability of online providers,” said co-head of legal affairs Mireille Koenig in the press release. The court’s decision “protects the exclusivity and value of Swatch’s iconic watch brands”.
More
More
Defining “Swissness” is a tricky task
This content was published on
Yet defining terms like “Swiss” and “Made in Switzerland” is proving to be a difficult task. On October 15, the House of Representatives committee for legal affairs announced that it would need more time to address the issue. It has decided to create a subcommittee to delve deeper into the 144-page dispatch handed down from…
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
The citizenship obstacle course facing spouses of Swiss Abroad
Swiss institute hosted informal talks between Russians, Ukrainians and Americans
This content was published on
The Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) has hosted 10 meetings between Russian and Ukrainian interlocutors since the start of the war.
Automated driving on Swiss motorways is theoretically possible from March
This content was published on
It will be theoretically possible to hand over the steering wheel to technology but no such system has been submitted for official approval yet.
Heated atmosphere at Swiss rally against AfD politician Alice Weidel
This content was published on
Around 250 people demonstrated "against the right" and the German AfD politician Alice Weidel on Saturday afternoon in Einsiedeln.
This content was published on
The Ethos Foundation recommends that shareholders vote against all compensation-related items at the Annual General Meeting on March 7.
Top Swiss firms close to reaching gender quota in boards
This content was published on
The proportion of women on the boards of directors of the fifty largest listed companies in Switzerland currently stands at 28%.
This content was published on
A US court of appeals confirmed that the term gruyère is a common label for cheese and can’t be reserved for a type from a specific region.
Legal victory for Lindt in German chocolate bunny case
This content was published on
The Federal Court of Justice delivered its verdict on Thursday in a battle between Lindt and German company Heilemann, which in 2018 also marketed a chocolate bunny in a gold foil wrap. Lindt claimed it had a trademark on the colour, acquired by use, and that Heilemann had infringed this trademark and should be prevented…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.