Swatch files lawsuit against Samsung over cloned watchfaces

One of the watchfaces Swatch claims Samsung copied is this Jaque Droz Tropical Bird Repeater, a one-of-a-kind design on a timepiece that costs around US$650,000

After what Swatch considers an "inadequate response" from Samsung, the watchmaker is suing the tech company for $100 million over watch faces on its smartwatches it deemed were "identical or virtually identical" to trademarks that Swatch owned. The Swiss watchmaker accuses Samsung of unfair business practices, and that its copied designs could mislead consumers to believe they had an ongoing partnership (which they apparently don't).

Swatch's complaint comes with images of smartwatches like the Gear Sport, Gear S3 Classic, and Frontier sporting watchfaces that are dead ringers for Swatch's timepieces. These were available from the Galaxy Apps store and were designed by third-party developers. But as the complaint states, Samsung still pockets a portion of the revenue. One of them, the Jaquet Droz Tropical Bird Repeater, was even the design for a one-of-a-kind watch that cost around US$650,000.

Swatch claims it reached out to Samsung directly in late December, sharing with them a list of watchfaces that looked similar to the ones they've made. Samsung allegedly removed the watchfaces, but not to the extent that Swatch wanted. According to Swatch, Samsung didn't admit to copying the watchfaces and didn't agree to review the entire Galaxy Apps store. And that new watchfaces that looked like Swatch's designs still kept turning up.

“In view of Samsung’s inadequate response, it is reasonable to conclude that Defendants will continue to infringe the Trademarks, and thereby cause further loss and damage to the Swatch Group Companies,” Swatch wrote.

Source: The Verge