Apple sues Swatch over 'Tick different' trademark
Swiss watch conglomerate Swatch is again under fire for allegedly capitalizing on successful Apple marketing. The watchmaker is being taken to court for emblazoning "Tick different" on certain watch models, a phrase Apple claims is a play on its 1990s "Think Different" ad campaign.
Lodged last week, Apple's complaint is being adjudicated by the Swiss Federal Administrative Court, reports Watson. In order to successfully argue its case, Apple will have to prove that at least 50 percent of consumers associate "Think Different" with Apple branding.
Apple is being represented by Zurich law firm Lenz & Staehelin, which filed a concurrent, but unsuccessful, complaint with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.
Responding to Apple's accusations, Swatch CEO Nick Hayek said any similarity between the two campaigns is coincidental. Hayek asserts "Tick different" has its roots in a Swatch campaign from the '80s that carried the phrase "Always different, always new."
Further confusing matters, Swatch applied for and was granted a U.S. trademark for "Tick different" some two years ago. With a priority date of July 16, 2015, the mark was officially published in October 2016. The USPTO recently granted an extension to the mark in January. Swatch holds the same trademark in Switzerland.
While the mark covers a number of potential applications, Swatch currently uses "Tick different" to distinguish Bellamy, a quartz wristwatch with built-in Visa NFC payment functionality. The company leveraged Bellamy to break into the Chinese mobile payments market in 2015, beating both Apple Pay and Apple Watch by four months.
Dreamed up by longtime Apple advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day when the tech giant was struggling, the "Think Different" campaign ran from 1997 through 2002. Initially called "crap" by late co-founder Steve Jobs, the now iconic series matched the slogan with black-and-white photos of famous visionaries. Kicking off the ad blitz was the award-winning "To the crazy ones" TV spot, which featured a voice-over by Richard Dreyfuss. Many ad industry insiders consider "Think Different" one of the most influential campaigns in recent history.
For Hayek and Swatch, "Tick different" follows a string of controversial moves made since Apple announced Apple Watch -- potential competition to Swatch's core business -- in 2014.
In 2015, Swatch won a trademark on the phrase "one more thing," words Jobs would often use to preface surprise announcements at keynote events. Swatch later said the catchphrase was inspired by the TV show "Columbo" and would be used to market a collection of film noir watches.
The watchmaker also attempted to block Apple's UK trademark application for "iWatch," saying it was too similar to Swatch's "iSwatch" mark. Some believe Swatch filed "iSwatch" as a pre-emptive strike against Apple's inevitable smartwatch rollout. The UK Intellectual Property Office ultimately sided with Swatch last year, long after Apple decided to market its wearable under the Apple Watch moniker.
Lodged last week, Apple's complaint is being adjudicated by the Swiss Federal Administrative Court, reports Watson. In order to successfully argue its case, Apple will have to prove that at least 50 percent of consumers associate "Think Different" with Apple branding.
Apple is being represented by Zurich law firm Lenz & Staehelin, which filed a concurrent, but unsuccessful, complaint with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.
Responding to Apple's accusations, Swatch CEO Nick Hayek said any similarity between the two campaigns is coincidental. Hayek asserts "Tick different" has its roots in a Swatch campaign from the '80s that carried the phrase "Always different, always new."
Further confusing matters, Swatch applied for and was granted a U.S. trademark for "Tick different" some two years ago. With a priority date of July 16, 2015, the mark was officially published in October 2016. The USPTO recently granted an extension to the mark in January. Swatch holds the same trademark in Switzerland.
While the mark covers a number of potential applications, Swatch currently uses "Tick different" to distinguish Bellamy, a quartz wristwatch with built-in Visa NFC payment functionality. The company leveraged Bellamy to break into the Chinese mobile payments market in 2015, beating both Apple Pay and Apple Watch by four months.
Dreamed up by longtime Apple advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day when the tech giant was struggling, the "Think Different" campaign ran from 1997 through 2002. Initially called "crap" by late co-founder Steve Jobs, the now iconic series matched the slogan with black-and-white photos of famous visionaries. Kicking off the ad blitz was the award-winning "To the crazy ones" TV spot, which featured a voice-over by Richard Dreyfuss. Many ad industry insiders consider "Think Different" one of the most influential campaigns in recent history.
For Hayek and Swatch, "Tick different" follows a string of controversial moves made since Apple announced Apple Watch -- potential competition to Swatch's core business -- in 2014.
In 2015, Swatch won a trademark on the phrase "one more thing," words Jobs would often use to preface surprise announcements at keynote events. Swatch later said the catchphrase was inspired by the TV show "Columbo" and would be used to market a collection of film noir watches.
The watchmaker also attempted to block Apple's UK trademark application for "iWatch," saying it was too similar to Swatch's "iSwatch" mark. Some believe Swatch filed "iSwatch" as a pre-emptive strike against Apple's inevitable smartwatch rollout. The UK Intellectual Property Office ultimately sided with Swatch last year, long after Apple decided to market its wearable under the Apple Watch moniker.
Comments
So it does not seem "coincidental" at all. It seems they are trying to go toe to toe with Apple in order to market themselves as an Apple competitor. I think this is because they have been hurt by Apple Watch sales.
Meanwhile, back in our own imperfect universe, time, ironically, will run out on the watch company long before the bell tolls for Apple. Enjoy your brief tick in the spotlight, Swatch. The world will soon enough be... ticking different.
I'd argue Apple already 'won' if we discuss profits in the watch market, smart or otherwise. This suit is just good free advertising for Apple IMHO. Lots of people out there have been fooled into believing the Watch is a failure. The news articles about this suit will by extension have to elaborate in more detail and perhaps a lot more people will learn Watch has actually decimated all opposition in profits.
They will record us and aspects of our environment and our interactions with it.
They will notify us, first line of alert and response, to everything and anything of importance to us.
They will authenticate us in order to grant access to our workplaces, our hotel rooms and homes, our cars, payments, etc.
They will direct us to our hotel rooms, theater or sporting event seats, locations on a map, running routes, anywhere and anytime we need direction.
They will let us control our environment; lights, air temperature, appliances, entertainment, computers, anything where we want or need to remotely control any aspect of our lives.
All of these functions are more convenient out on the wrist or body. Smartphones, or pocket information and connectivity hubs or whatever we later decide to rename the appliance we now refer to as a Smartphone, will continue to be marginalized, to those roles it is best suited; consumption of dense information sources, for example. Tick different, indeed. Only, it's not Swatch that deserves the right to convey the true and full meaning of that phrase; it's a company, like Apple, with a far reaching ecosystem and technology chops that can make the paradigm shift actually happen.
As someone on 9to5Mac pointed out, Think Different is actually grammatically incorrect. It should be Think Differently. So for Swatch to use the phrase Tick Different they are making the same grammatical error.
There is no way Apple wins this. Is their argument that they now exclusively own the grammatically quirky "[verb] different" phrase? If they have dozens of other versions rather than "Think Different" maybe they would have a chance, but they've only ever used that one.
Plus based on my very spotty, non-professional understanding of Swiss IP law, they tend to be very literal/strict in their rulings. "Tick" is completely different from "Think." Case dismissed.
This is 100% correct. In fact it's similar to an example used in Apple's lawsuit against Samsung. Samsung used a flower icon for their photo app, just like Apple. And Apple's attorney's argued that Apple used an arbitrary image for its icon, so for Samsung to use a very similar image indicates a clear intent to copy.
Bottom line is that this is a very blatant attempt on Swatch's part.
Phil Schiller is trying to justify his job in branding. The "Tick Different" may confuse customers into thinking an analog clock is somehow the same as an Apple device with a one-day battery.