Apple has filed a trademark application in Japan for the term ‘iWatch,’ according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal explained that the move added ‘to speculation that the company is preparing to introduce a watchlike product.’
According to The Guardian, Apple applied for the same trademark in Russia, though not in the EU, where it is already registered to an Italian company. The Guardian also speculates that ‘iWatch’ could refer to a television-related product rather than a timepiece.
Speculation about an Apple-made smart watch and television set has been rife for months, thanks in no small part recent comments from Tim Cook in which he called wearable computing ‘ripe for exploration’ and said that Apple TV was ‘good from a learning point of view’ and that it ‘continues to be an area of great interest to us.’
Registering a trademark doesn’t mean that Apple intends to do anything with the name, it could merely be a way of ensuring that no one else registers it. Nor does the fact that iWatch is already registered in Europe mean that Apple will be put off; it demonstrated with the iPhone (the trademark for which was owned by Cisco when the iPhone was announced) that once it has decided on a name, it’s prepared to do whatever’s necessary to acquire the right to use it.
