Apple has filed a complaint in a Swiss court over the use of the slogan "Tick Different" in a Swatch marketing campaign, arguing that the watchmaker is unfairly referencing the Californian company's successful 1990s "Think Different" ad campaign for its own gain.
The complaint was lodged last week at the Swiss Federal Administrative Court by Apple representatives Lenz & Staehelin, whose lawyers filed a simultaneous but ultimately unsuccessful complaint with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.
Image: Swatch
Swatch has been using the "Tick Different" slogan on its Bellamy quartz wristwatch with built-in NFC Visa payment technology. According to Watson, in order to successfully win the case Apple must show that Swatch's use of the phrase triggers an association with Apple products in the minds of at least 50 percent of consumers.
Swatch CEO Nick Hayek has reportedly rejected the allegation that it is capitalizing on Apple branding. Hayek claimed that the "Tick Different" slogan has its origins in an 80s Swatch campaign that used the phrase "Always different, always new", and says that any similarity with Apple is purely coincidental.
The "Think Different" slogan was created in 1997 by Apple advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, and was thought at the time to be a response to IBM's slogan "Think". It was used in TV commercials, print ads, and several TV promos. Disappearance of the slogan in Apple marketing material coincided with the launch of the iMac G4 in 2002.
Prior to the launch of the Apple Watch, Apple and Swatch were rumored to be joining together to introduce a smartwatch, but nothing ever came of it. Swatch filed an application for an "iSwatch" trademark when rumors first began swirling that Apple planned to enter the market. It later managed to block Apple's own U.K. trademark application for "iWatch".
The complaint was lodged last week at the Swiss Federal Administrative Court by Apple representatives Lenz & Staehelin, whose lawyers filed a simultaneous but ultimately unsuccessful complaint with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.
Swatch has been using the "Tick Different" slogan on its Bellamy quartz wristwatch with built-in NFC Visa payment technology. According to Watson, in order to successfully win the case Apple must show that Swatch's use of the phrase triggers an association with Apple products in the minds of at least 50 percent of consumers.
Swatch CEO Nick Hayek has reportedly rejected the allegation that it is capitalizing on Apple branding. Hayek claimed that the "Tick Different" slogan has its origins in an 80s Swatch campaign that used the phrase "Always different, always new", and says that any similarity with Apple is purely coincidental.
The "Think Different" slogan was created in 1997 by Apple advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, and was thought at the time to be a response to IBM's slogan "Think". It was used in TV commercials, print ads, and several TV promos. Disappearance of the slogan in Apple marketing material coincided with the launch of the iMac G4 in 2002.
Prior to the launch of the Apple Watch, Apple and Swatch were rumored to be joining together to introduce a smartwatch, but nothing ever came of it. Swatch filed an application for an "iSwatch" trademark when rumors first began swirling that Apple planned to enter the market. It later managed to block Apple's own U.K. trademark application for "iWatch".
Tag: Swatch
75 comments
Apple Pay officially launched in Austria this morning. Apple's mobile payment system is now supported by the country's largest bank Erste Bank und Sparkasse, as well as German-based mobile...
DigiTimes reports this morning that Apple is set to launch third-generation AirPods with a noise cancelation function by the end of the year, a claim at odds with rumors that Apple's AirPods 3...
Razer last week announced the launch of its latest eGPU, the $400 Razer Core X Chroma, equipped with, as the name suggests, Razer's signature Chroma lighting.
Razer sent us one of the...
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming iOS 12.3 update to its public beta testing group, one day after seeding the beta to developers and two weeks after releasing the second public beta.
...
Apple has launched a new YouTube channel that's dedicated to its TV app, offering up trailers, behind the scenes commentary, interviews, show clips, and more.
Apple appears to have debuted...
Apple's Powerbeats Pro, set to launch in May, will only be available in black when they first go on sale. The detail, first noticed by 9to5Mac, was recently added to the Powerbeats Pro listing on...
Apple has indicated that most MacBook and MacBook Pro keyboard repairs will be required to be completed at Apple Stores until further notice, rather than being shipped to an off-site Apple repair...
On the latest episode of the Connected podcast on Relay FM, MacStories editor-in-chief Federico Viticci suggested that USB mouse support could eventually be coming to the iPad Pro as an accessibility...
