Swatch filed a lawsuit against Samsung for allegedly replicating its watch face designs. The Swiss watchmaker accuses the South Korean tech company of unfair business practices and competition after some of its designs were sold in the Galaxy Apps store.
Swatch Group is the same company behind other watch brands such as Omega, Tissot, and Rado.
Swatch Copycat
The lawsuit, first reported by Reuters, contains images showing side-by-side comparisons of its original designs and some watch faces that are in the Galaxy Apps store. The allegedly copied designs are downloadable for Gear S3 Classic, Frontier, and Gear Sport.
According to the watchmaker, there are over 30 designs that are "identical or virtually identical" to the ones it owns. Swatch also said that the copied watch face designs could lead customers into thinking that the two companies had some kind of deal, which is not the case.
"This is a blatant, wilful and international violation of our trademarks by Samsung," Swatch said in the lawsuit.
Swatch Group is calling for a trial and wants Samsung to pay more than $100 million in damages.
Samsung Removed The Designs, But It's Not Enough
Swatch apparently reached out to Samsung even before filing the lawsuit. In late December last year, the watchmaker alerted the tech company of some watch face designs similar to the brand's are being sold in the Galaxy Apps store.
Samsung did remove the said designs, but it isn't enough to pacify Swatch, as the device manufacturer never admitted to copying the designs nor it reviewed the entire Galaxy Apps store, which seems to still contain more copied watch face designs from Swatch.
"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 said.
