Dominic is the CEO of Lawpath, dedicating his days to making legal easier, faster and more accessible to businesses. Dominic is a recognised thought-leader in Australian legal disruption, and was recognised as a winner of the Australian Legal Innovation Index and recently a winner of the LexisNexis 40 Under 40 (APAC).
28th August 2015
Imagine this. Apple product launch. Steve Jobs captivating the audience with amazing technology. Everyone hanging onto every spoken word. The atmosphere is electric, and excitement builds right up to the breaking point. Then comes the three magic words.
āOne more thing.ā
The audience roars and ruptures in cheers. For any Apple lover, those three words are more magical than āI love youā, but maybe a little less than āLetās get smashedā. There is even a compilation of every time Steve Jobs uttered those words.
So it might come as a big surprise to you that the company that trademarked the phrase isā¦. Swatch.
Swatch filed for a trademark of the phrase in Switzerland, and essentially has exclusive use of the phrase until 2024. Theyāre also seeking to trademark the phrase āTick Differentā, possibly a swipe at Appleās āThink Differentā campaign back in the 90s (cāmon, letās not go around starting rumours). While it might all just be a cheeky ploy in the spirit of competition, Swatch will hold very strong intellectual property rights over those phrases.
Swatch is insisting that this trademark has nothing to do with Apple. However, their competitive track record, and Swatchās CEO calling the Apple Watch āan interesting toy, but not a revolutionā, makes for a very interesting dinner topic.
Find out more about trademarks to plan your own cheeky payback here, here, here and here. And here. Just kidding.
If you want to have a chat about trademarks, give us a call on 1800 LAWPATH or see LawPath Trademark
Let us know what you think about Swatchās cheekiness or let us in on your own by tagging us #lawpath or @lawpath.
