Samsung must pay Swatch Group US$11.6 million over ‘knock-off’ smartwatch faces

Samsung must pay Swatch Group US$11.6 million for using watch faces that imitated luxury brands such as Omega, Longines, Tissot, Breguet, and Blancpain. A London judge ruled that Samsung's app store was damaging to Swatch Group's interests. The High Court awarded damages for trademark infringement, finding the apps mimicked Swatch Group brand designs.

Samsung was ordered to pay a significant sum to compensate for the harm caused by displaying the brand names in the Galaxy app store. The majority of the award was for the infringement of Swatch Group's brand names, regardless of whether consumers downloaded the apps. Samsung had insisted that no damage had been caused, with a claim for only US$300 owed.

The judge compared the situation to a supermarket displaying copycat products, deeming it very damaging to Swatch Group's property interests due to the low price and lack of value. The apps were created by third-party developers, but Samsung was held liable due to its control over the app review process and promotion of the smartwatches with attractive faces.

Swatch claimed that the apps, downloaded about 160,000 times in the UK and EU, were "knock-offs" and constituted a "large-scale appropriation" of valuable trademarks. Samsung's lawyers argued that Swatch's demand was "extravagant" and not proportional to the damage suffered, stating that the software was removed from the Galaxy app store upon being reported.

Samsung plans to consider all possible countermeasures, including an appeal. Swatch stated that Samsung had downplayed the scale and significance of the infringements by trivialising the compensation due to Swatch's well-known brands. The case against Samsung has also been brought in the US, currently on hold pending the outcome in England.