Last June, Apple began registering for trademarks on the "iWatch" name in a number of countries, but since that time the company has been bolstering its trademarks on the actual company name "Apple" to also cover jewelry and watches, MacRumors has discovered.
By international agreement, trademarks are broken down into 45 different classes to organize the types of goods and services being registered for protection. Watches and other jewelry are part of Class 14, which is focused on precious metals/stones and products made from those materials. While some of Apple's trademarks on the "Apple" name have previously included some goods from Class 14, the company is now broadening and cleaning up its trademark applications in those areas. The moves come as the company is widely expected to introduce its "iWatch" smart watch as soon as later this year.
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Among the recent expansions for Apple is Ecuador, where Apple filed a new trademark application in late December specifically to add protection in Class 14 for a long list of product types including jewelry and watches. Google translation of new category application for "Apple" trademark:
jewelry; watches; watches; goods in precious metals or coated therewith; cufflinks or cufflinks; keychains; timers; brooches in precious metals or coated therewith; ornaments in precious metals or coated therewith; tie pins in precious metals or coated therewith; tie clips or tie clips of precious metal or coated therewith; badges of precious metal or coated therewith; bracelets of precious metal or coated therewith; Necklaces in precious metals or coated therewith; medals in precious metals or coated therewith; short chains and ornaments in precious metals or coated therewith; buttons in precious metals or coated therewith; clip in precious metals or coated therewith; boxes of precious metal or coated therewith; decorations in precious metals or coated therewith; jewelry; sculptures and precious metals products.
Applications in other countries have followed in recent months, including a nearly identical filing in Mexico in early January that again solely focused on Class 14. Other expansions have come as part of larger filings, such as in Norway, where Apple in mid-February applied for increased protection in seven different classes including a significant list within Class 14. And just last month that effort extended to the United Kingdom, where Apple filed to broaden its protections in over a dozen classes, including Class 14 for the first time there.
While new applications to protect Apple's use of its own name in jewelry and watches have appeared in a number of countries in recent months, the company has yet to make the move in all countries where it operates, most notably the United States where the "Apple" name is not currently covered under Class 14 at all.
Top Rated Comments
Mavericks on my Air and Pro run flawlessly. iOS 7.1 update fixed all of the problems for me that 7.0.X had on my 5S.
The time has come to encrust my products with sapphire.
My theory: You have an iPhone in your pocket. So now with the iWatch, you can see what's on your phone without taking it out of your pocket. Next up, the iRing, so you can see what's on you're iWatch without looking like you are watching the time, this way you can glance at your hand and be more subtle while at a meeting, appointment, etc. You won't appear impatient looking at you iRing as you would looking at your iWatch.
After the iRing, the iGlass, which will be based on Google Glass. Apple will claim Google copied them even though Google Glass came first. Meanwhile legions of Apple loyalists will rush to Apple's defense, claiming Apple did iGlass right and were truly innovators.
In the futrue, their will be the iEar, a small earring type device where Siri speaks softly into your ear with any information you need from your iPhone, iWatch, iRing or iGlass. But wait! One more thing. The iProbe, the first insertable wearable device. Users will have various options to have this probe surgically implanted in their heads, etc so that the information from the aforementioned iDevices transmits the the knowledge directly to their brains. :D:D:D
Disclaimer: This is intended to be a humorous, lighthearted post. And if any of these ideas come to fruition in the future, remember, you heard it hear first. :D:D
Of course I am half kidding. Obviously this just seems geared towards an iWatch, not actual jewelry (Apple, please still fix OS X).