Following the revelation that Apple had applied for 'iWatch' in Japan, it appears that Apple has done so in Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey and Colombia as well.
On Monday, reports emerged indicating that Cupertino giant had filed a
trademark application for the 'iWatch' product name in Japan. Filings, spotted by various Internet users and websites, reveal that similar applications have been submitted to Intellectual property bodies in various other countries.
According to the filing with Mexico's Institute of Industrial Property,
spotted first by 9to5Mac, Apple applied for the iWatch trademark under two categories pertaining to hardware and software of mobile devices. The application was submitted on June 3, though it was made public recently.
Another filing with Taiwan's Intellectual Property Office,
retrieved first by MacRumors, also reveals the same iWatch trademark with the colour of the device mentioned as Black.
Besides these, Apple has also filed for the iWatch trademark in Turkey through an attorney on June 3 and in
Russia during the same time period. A trademark filing submitted on June 4th in Colombia has also been
spotted by a Twitter user.
It's interesting to note that all filings also include a graphic with the term iWatch depicted in upper case letters.
The move signals that Apple is indeed working on a new wearable device and wants to secure the iWatch moniker in markets across the globe, inline with its other devices that have been christened in the same manner.
Earlier this year, Bloomberg had reported that
Apple's so-called iWatch is expected to release this year and that the project is currently being fuelled by the efforts of over 100 engineers being led by Apple design chief Jony Ive himself.
A recent report by Apple Insider, also mentioned that
Apple's smart watch is likely to debut in 2014, quoting Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with KGI Securities who regularly offers predictions on future Apple products.
Recently, Hon Hai Precision Industry, the company that uses the trade name Foxconn, demonstrated a
new smart watch that can be connected with the iPhone. A fews days back,
Sony officially launched SmartWatch 2 , the successor to its SmartWatch.
It's worth mentioning that companies like
Google,
Samsung,
Microsoft, and
LG, are all said to be working on bringing their own smart watch-like devices to the market.