Apple iWatch Trademark Application Submitted In Japan – Report

Apple is reportedly attempting to trademark ‘iWatch’ in Japan as it steps up plans to enter the smartwatch market.

According to Bloomberg, Apple wants to trademark the name, which is listed in a category for products such as a handheld computer or watch, in a 3 June filing with the Japan Patent Office that was made public last week.

The iPhone manufacturer is strongly rumoured to be working on a wearable device as it seeks to create new product lines as the smartphone and tablet markets become increasingly competitive.

Apple iWatch trademark

It is understood that Apple has a team of 100 product designers currently working on the iWatch, which will compete with an already-announced Samsung rival and the Sony Smartwatch 2, which works with the Japanese manufacturer’s Android smartphones.

The trademark application is the strongest evidence yet that such a product is in existence, with Apple filing a patent application detailing a “wearable accessory device” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as early as 2011.

The company has not officially confirmed the existence of the device, however, although CEO Tim Cook has promised it is working on “innovative” new products in an attempt to appease shareholders disgruntled by a 40 percent decline in Apple’s share price since it reached a record high last September.

Investors have grown increasingly restless as concerns about the company’s future product plans and increased competition in the smartphone and tablet markets from the likes of Samsung.

They have also been frustrated at Apple’s apparent hoarding of its estimated £95 billion cash reserves, but earlier this year, Apple generated £10.9 billion through a bond sale as part of plans to return some if its cash reserves to shareholders.

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