Virtual Copies of Well-Known Watch Faces Likely to Lead to Lawsuits

Virtual Copies of Well-Known Watch Faces Likely to Lead to Lawsuits

If you’re holding your breath waiting for a virtual copy of such well-known watch faces as Omega, Cartier, or Fossil, for your smartwatch of choice, you might want to take a deep breath, because the big brand watchmakers are already making moves to prevent virtual clones from showing up on wearables such as the Apple Watch.

Luxury smart watch faces
Watch Faces via TorrentFreak

9to5Mac:

… reports TorrentFreak: big-name watchmakers are issuing cease-and-desist notices to those creating smartwatch versions of their designs.

TorrentFreak found that such famous watchmakers as IWC, Panerai, Omega, Fossil, Armani, Michael Kors, Tissot, Certina, Swatch, Flik Flak and Mondaine are already sending “cease and desist notices to any sites or individuals that they believe are offering virtual copies of their watch faces without permission.

The companies are citing copyright, design rights, and registered trademarks in the notices, and download site owners are being given as little as 24 hours to remove the content from their sites.

While current smartwatches are still quite bulky, and no one is liable to mistake a Moto 360 for a Cartier, technology will continue to improve, and someday the watchmakers fears could prove to be well-grounded.

This is sure to make it difficult for Apple Watch users to download a copy of their favorite luxury watch face to their favorite wearable device, however, there are likely to be plenty of other watch faces available to satiate most users.