Samsung recently filed trademark applications for “Galaxy Watch” and “Galaxy Fit” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) leading to the suggestion these could be the names of upcoming wearables from the company. Specifically, the suggestion the next expected major smartwatch from Samsung — the Samsung Gear S4 — could be launched as the Samsung Galaxy Watch.
On the face of things, if this was correct it would mark a fairly monumental change of branding approach from Samsung as while the “Galaxy” name is now synonymous with the Samsung brand, it is primarily only with the company’s phone and tablet lines. In contrast, over the last few years Samsung has continuously looked to build up its wearable brand name, “Gear.” Therefore, it could be assumed Samsung might now be in the process of undoing all of that work in favor of homogenizing its different lines under its most well-known product brand name. That is, on the face of things. As what is equally as likely is this is just a filing for administrative purposes.
The reason being is this is not the first time Samsung has trademarked “Galaxy Watch,” or for that matter, “Galaxy Fit.” As both were previously trademarked in 2013 and 2011, respectively. However, since then (in 2015 for Galaxy Watch and 2014 for Galaxy Fit) the USPTO had marked the two trademarks as “abandoned” and “dead.” The USPTO notes there are a number of reasons as to why applications (either patent or trademark) end up listed as abandoned, with some of the more common reasons being the lack of a timely response to a USPTO action letter, or failure to provide a ‘Statement of Use.’ Although, as mentioned, these are only some examples of why trademarks end up listed as abandoned. In either case, the existence and subsequent abandoning of the previous trademarks add weight to the suggestion the more recent filings may be more of a clerical matter, than an indication of an imminent product launch and/or rebrand. Especially considering that between the two generation trademarks there are only minor changes, such as the stylizing of the names (as well as“Galaxy Watch” now shown as “Samsung Galaxy Watch”), in addition to the two newer trademarks featuring a more robust description of what they cover – a sign of the times and how the wearables market has expanded since the original Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Fit trademarks were filed.
