Apple can't sell its Watch in Switzerland until the end of the year

A new report from Switzerland has revealed that Apple won't be allowed to sell the Apple Watch in the country till the end of this year due to a patent dispute.

The home of luxury watches, Switzerland, won't be getting the Apple Watch along with the rest of the world due to a patent that prohibits Apple from using a apple logo or the apple name on any watch in the country. Swiss news company RTS posted the details of the patent in question on its website referring to the information provided by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.

The patent which dates back to 1985 is currently held by watchmaker William Longe of Leonard watches and is set to expire on December 5, beyond which Apple should not face any issue with the Apple Watch launch in the country.

Apple is all set to launch its first wearable device in many markets soon and it would be quite a setback for potential customers in Switzerland to not get their hands on the device while the hype is still strong. It will be interesting to see what Apple does to tackle the situation as the date for pre-orders is just a week away.


Source: RTS (Swiss) via Reuters