New Delhi: UK court has ruled Samsung Electronics must pay $11.6 million (around ₹100 crore) to Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group for replicating the designs and trademarks of its high-end watch brands in the smartwatch applications. On Aug. 26, the High Court in London ruled.
The case is connected to Samsung’s Galaxy App Store in 2015-2019. Third party were made these applications, and provided digital faces that resembled the design of watches made by Swatch brands (such as Omega, Longines, Breguet, Blancpain and Tissot).
Swatch had claimed it suffered damages of approximately $170 million because Samsung used and exhibited its trademarks or designs. Samsung, however, has contended that only a couple hundred dollars is warranted in compensation because of the minimal financial harm.
Samsung failed to succeed in the court. But the inclusion of Swatch’s luxury brands on Samsung’s platform may affect the worth and the prestige of those brands, particularly since the watch faces were offered free of charge or at a minimal cost, Judge Marcus Smith wrote.
The court also took note of the apps being downloaded some 160,000 times in the UK and European Union. Much of the final damages ($10 million) were related to the presentation of the apps and brands on Samsung’s app store.
Samsung claimed that it was not responsible for the watch faces, themselves. It’s software developed by third parties. The court, however, ruled that Samsung was liable as it was responsible for operating the app store and the availability of the apps to consumers. The similarity is that Samsung was involved in reviewing, showing and spreading content on its platform too.
The decision comes after the UK High Court determined that Samsung had violated Swatch’s trademarks in a previous case. Samsung later sought to overturn the ruling, but failed.
Samsung is studying the judgement and will evaluate the legal possibilities, such as appealing, the company said. Swatch welcomed that finding, saying Samsung “did not take seriously the trademark infringements.
The case underscores the emerging liability of technology platforms for content by third parties. It might also be a red flag for app-store operators to the idea that having a copied design or trademark on their platforms could have harsh financial and legal repercussions.
