A London court has ordered Samsung Electronics to pay Swatch Group $11.6 million in damages over smartwatch watch-face apps that replicated the appearance of several Swatch-owned brands.
The ruling stems from a long-running trademark dispute involving digital watch-face apps sold through Samsung’s Galaxy app store. The apps, created by third-party developers, mimicked the designs of brands including Omega, Longines, Tissot, Breguet, and Blancpain.
Samsung was previously found liable for trademark infringement by the High Court in London in 2022 for allowing the apps to be offered between 2015 and 2019. An appeal was later dismissed, and recent proceedings were focused on determining damages.
Swatch had sought approximately $170 million in damages, arguing that Samsung had enabled widespread misuse of its trademarks. Samsung, meanwhile, contended that any harm was minimal and argued during the litigation that only a nominal amount was owed.
The court found that much of the damage resulted from Samsung displaying the Swatch brand names in its app marketplace, regardless of whether consumers downloaded the apps. Justice Marcus Smith said the availability of imitation watch faces at little or no cost harmed the prestige of the luxury brands.
“These were brands that had been carefully curated and promoted by the Swatch Group over decades, and formed a critical part of their business,” Smith wrote.
The judge calculated part of the damages based on royalty considerations tied to roughly 160,000 downloads of the infringing watch-face apps in Europe, Bloomberg reported. The Financial Times said the largest portion of the award reflected what the court characterized as “store display” infringement.
Samsung said it is reviewing the decision and is considering “all possible countermeasures, including an appeal,” according to statements cited by Bloomberg and The Korea Times.
Swatch welcomed the ruling and said Samsung repeatedly had minimized the significance of the infringement and the value of the group’s brands. The company also noted that separate litigation involving the same Swatch brands remains pending in a U.S. court.
The JCK News Desk uses AI to help research and produce the first draft of articles. This story was then reviewed by staff writer David Blomquist.
(Photo: Copy of a Swatch Orange Black WF face that allegedly was available through a Samsung smartwatch app, as shown in a 2022 decision of the U.K. High Court of Justice)
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