With Apple Watch now comfortably the highest selling timepiece on the planet, it is inevitable that an industry has emerged that creates add-ons and accessories for the connected wristwear.
Sweden’s Golden Concept is one such brand, which makes high end cases for Apple Watches and iPhones.
Daniel Wellington, the watch brand famous for its minimalist styles, is another.
The problem is that both businesses appear to have come up with almost identical protective cases for the Apple Watch, and Golden Concepts thinks Daniel Wellington has copied its design and has launched a legal action to prove it.
According to Golden Concept, the design of its Apple Watch case, which launched in 2020, is protected by design registrations in several countries and regions including the EU, USA, China, Canada, Russia, and Japan.
The case, like the protective cases for mobile phones, is supposed to improve the aesthetics of the Apple Watch, make it more personal to each owner, and protect it.
Various versions in different materials, colours and finishes range in price from around $700 to $1300.
Daniel Wellington’s version is currently advertised on its site for £112.50.
There are thousands of companies marketing mobile phone cases in myriad different styles, but Golden Concept thinks its Apple Watch case design is legally protected against being copied.
It is challenging Daniel Wellington in a Swedish court, and is also preparing lawsuits against multiple sellers of alleged copies of its Apple Watch case products in various territories worldwide, to protect its innovation and brand.
“We are, sadly, seeing an increasing number of cheap imitations of our products from both faceless sellers and recognisable competitors. Competition is something we welcome, but plagiarism of our designs and ideas is not. The shameless replication of one of our flagship products not only undercuts our sales but damages the unique brand we’ve worked so hard to build,” says Puia Shamsossadati, CEO and founder of Golden Concept.
“We’ve endeavoured to persuade Daniel Wellington and others that selling egregious copies of our products, or very similar products, is neither ethical nor lawful. Disappointingly, we have now been forced to resort to legal action to protect the original ideas and products that we work so hard on,” he adds.
