As we all know, Apple products are identified with the “i” suffix at the beginning. From iPhone to iPad, from iMac to iTunes, we encounter this attachment in many products and services from different categories. That’s why when the company announced that it would introduce its first smartwatch in 2015, everyone expected the name of the device to be “iWatch”.
However, this did not happen. Introduced in April 2015, the smartwatch was called the Apple Watch, not the iWatch, as many people expected. But why did the company suddenly break its long-standing tradition?
Tim Cook says he likes the Apple Watch name better; but refrains from giving an exact reason
This question was posed directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook a few years ago. Bloomberg’s David Rubenstein asked the CEO why it was called the Apple Watch instead of the iWatch. Rubenstein also drew attention to the company’s habit of naming “i”, giving examples such as iTunes, iPod and iPad.
Cook, on the other hand, laughed at the question and did not give a very satisfactory answer, expressing that he liked the Apple Watch more. In addition, Cook also stated in the interview that they were considering the name iWatch, confirming that this name was actually considered.
What really was the reason for this name? Apple, which pays so much attention to the finest details of its products, has taken such a step by giving up the naming model that is engraved in everyone’s mind? As you can imagine, Cook has a better reason than personal preferences.
The fact that the name iWatch belongs to different companies in many countries caused Apple not to give this name to its smart watch.
When many companies want to launch a product or service, they have to register the name of that thing. In this way, that product is separated from other products and similarities are prevented. Apple also ran into some legal issues over trademarking while developing the Apple Watch.
iWatch was registered in the country in 2012 by OMG Electronics, a US-based software company. In addition, an Irish company called Probendi also had the name. Probendi’s rights spanned the entire European Union, not just Ireland. In addition, an unnamed company from China was named iWatch.
As if all that wasn’t enough, Apple filed a trademark application for the iWatch in the UK in 2014, according to SecureYourTrademark. However, the giant watch manufacturer Swatch objected to this, saying that the iWatch could be confused with its own names “iSwatch” and “Swatch” in the country. The authorities in the country ultimately decided in favor of Swatch and Apple could not get the name iWatch in the country.
So, as you can see, Apple had to deal with legal problems that could cost itself a lot in order to have the iWatch name. Instead, the technology giant chose a safer way, used its own “Apple”, and brought us the Apple Watch, its highly successful product.
This is why the name of Apple TV, which was first introduced as iTV, was changed.
It should be said that Apple does not experience such a problem only with the Apple Watch. The product we now know as AppleTV was originally introduced as “iTV” by Steve Jobs in 2006. However, after an unsuccessful legal battle with a British company that owned the name, the product took on the name Apple TV as we know it today.
iPhone and iPad had similar problems, millions of dollars were paid for naming rights.
The iPhone and iPad names, which are Apple’s popular products, were also registered by different companies. The iPhone name belonged to a technology company called Cisco in the USA. Apple had to pay an undisclosed amount of fees to get this naming right.
On the other hand, the iPad belonged to Proview, a company based in China, since the early 2000s. This time, after a decision taken in 2012, Apple paid Proview a huge fee of $ 60 million to use the name in the region.
Apple even considered registering the “i” name in 2010 to prevent such a thing from happening again. However, the court rejected this request and stated that no company could have the rights to a letter alone. This left the company with only one option, pushing it to use the already existing “Apple” where it could not use the letter.
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