Samsung Hit With $11.6 Mn Damages Over Watch Apps Mimicking Swatch Brands

Samsung Electronics has been ordered to pay $11.6 million to Swatch Group after a UK High Court ruling found that the Korean technology giant failed to prevent apps mimicking the Swiss watchmaker’s luxury brands on its smartwatch displays, according to a Bloomberg report.

The damages followed a previous judgment that found Samsung had infringed Swatch Group’s trademarks by allowing digital watch-face designs replicating the appearance of its watches on its app store between 2015 and 2019.

Swatch Group had sought around $170 million in damages, while Samsung had argued during the trial that the compensation should be no more than about $300, according to the news agency.

Why Samsung Was Ordered To Pay

The case involved watch-face apps that used the trademarks of 10 Swatch Group brands, including Breguet, Longines and Omega. The High Court assessed the damages after considering royalties linked to about 160,000 downloads of the infringing apps in Europe.

Judge Marcus Smith said the availability of the Swatch brands on Samsung’s platform, where the apps could be downloaded for little or no money, was damaging to the brands.

The judge also said Swatch Group had spent decades building and promoting its brands, which were a critical part of its business. The ruling said Samsung did not value the trademarks as such and considered that they made little difference to its offering to consumers.

Samsung, Swatch Weigh Next Steps

Samsung said it was carefully considering the High Court’s judgment and would look at all possible countermeasures, including an appeal.

Swatch Group welcomed the ruling. A company spokesperson said Samsung had repeatedly tried to minimise the scale and significance of the trademark infringements by downplaying the compensation owed to the group’s well-known brands.

The $11.6 million award was based on the royalties that the court assessed as applicable to the approximately 160,000 downloads in Europe. The amount is significantly below the $170 million initially sought by Swatch Group.

The dispute is not limited to the UK. Swatch Group said a separate case involving the same 10 brands against Samsung is currently pending in a US court, adding another legal challenge between the two companies.