Samsung ordered to pay Swatch US$11.6 million over copied smartwatch apps
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Swatch Group initially sought about US$170 million from Samsung for displaying the Swatch brands.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Samsung was ordered to pay Swatch US$11.6 million (S$14.8 million) for allowing apps that copied Swatch’s luxury watch designs on its smartwatches.
- The court ruled Samsung harmed Swatch’s brand value by offering these apps cheaply or for free, damaging Swatch’s reputation.
- Samsung plans to consider countermeasures, including an appeal, while separate legal action by Swatch against Samsung is ongoing in the US.
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Samsung Electronics was ordered to pay Swatch Group US$11.6 million (S$14.8 million) for failing to prevent apps that mimicked the Swiss company’s luxury brands such as Breguet, Longines and Omega on its own smartwatch displays.
The High Court’s trademark ruling, published on Aug 26, came after the Swiss watchmaker sought about US$170 million from the Korean technology giant for displaying the Swatch brands. Samsung argued at trial that the damages weren’t worth more than about US$300.
“Use of the Swatch Group brands on Samsung’s supermarket shelves, downloadable for nothing or for little money, is to my mind very damaging,” Judge Marcus Smith said in the ruling.
“The low price is demeaning of the brands the Swatch Group seek to promulgate.”
A previous judgment found Samsung had infringed the Swiss watchmaker’s trademarks by allowing designs that replicated the appearance of Swatch Group watches for digital watch displays on its app store between 2015 and 2019.
“We are carefully considering the High Court’s judgment and will consider all possible countermeasures, including an appeal,” a Samsung spokesperson said.
Swatch Group carefully curated and promoted its brands over decades, which formed a critical part of their business, the judge said.
“It is quite clear that Samsung does not value the marks as such, and considers that they make no real marginal difference to its offering to consumers,” Smith said.
The judge assessed the damages at US$11.6 million after factoring in royalties on about 160,000 downloads of the infringing watch-face apps in Europe.
“Samsung repeatedly attempted to downplay the scale and significance of the infringements by trivialising the compensation owed to the Swatch Group’s well-known brands,” a Swatch Group spokesperson said.
Separate proceedings brought by the same 10 brands of the Swatch Group against Samsung are pending in a US Court, it said. BLOOMBERG
