Pursuits

Apple Is Getting Sued Over the Name iWatch, Even Though That’s Not What Its Product Is Called

A trademark holder in Europe is angry that Apple bought Google ads for the term “iWatch”

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., unveils the Apple Watch during a product announcement at Flint Center in Cupertino, California, on Sept. 9, 2014.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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By Daniele Lepido

July 14, 2015 at 2:35 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Type “iWatch” into Google’s search engine, and the top result is likely to be an ad for the Apple Watch. Apple pays Google for the advertisements so it doesn’t miss out on potential customers who entered the wrong product name. But a small Dublin-based company, which owns the iWatch trademark in Europe, is hoping the ads will cost Apple a lot more.

Probendi, an Irish software development studio, filed an urgent procedure on June 26 with a court in Milan protesting Apple’s use of the term in its ads, according to the tribunal filing obtained by Bloomberg. “Apple has systematically used iWatch wording on Google search engine in order to direct customers to its own website, advertising Apple Watch,” the document says.