So it seems that Apple has been going about trademarking the “iWatch” moniker in regions such as Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan, just to name a few places, hinting that the existence of the device could be real. However given that iWatch is hardly the most creative name one can think of, especially given the popularity of the “i” prefix, it seems that Apple might be having some trouble securing the trademark rights to the name in countries such as the US, UK and China. According to reports, it seems that the iWatch name has already been registered in these countries, and while negotiating the transfer of the rights from the original holder to Apple might be an easy, and possibly expensive process, in the US and UK, China could be a different story.
As you might recall it was last year when Apple ran into legal trouble in China over the iPad moniker. A Chinese company by the name of Proview apparently owned the rights to the name, but Apple thought they had bought the rights through a shell corporation. Long story short, Apple had to settle with Proview in order to legally use the iPad name in China. While it might not necessarily be the same case with iWatch, you never know!
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