Last month, Samsung filed six trademark applications related to smart rings across various trademark offices around the world. The company has now thrown one more into the mix. It recently submitted documents to secure a trademark for the “Samsung Curio” moniker.
Filed with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), the latest trademark from Samsung concerns a product under the “Class 9” category (via SamMobile). The description of this category includes smart rings and software for smart rings, as well as other forms of wearable devices, smartphones, and tablets.
As is the case with all such trademark applications, the description is imprecise. Samsung Curio could be something as small as a smart ring or as big as a tablet. It could also be an app instead of a physical product. However, considering the Korean firm’s naming scheme, Curio doesn’t fit under any of its existing product portfolio.
This suggests we are looking for a product related to smart rings, a new product category Samsung is working on. Its first-ever smart ring is widely expected to be called the Galaxy Ring. Early last month, the company updated the Samsung Health app to add “Ring support,” though it doesn’t have any such product in its portfolio yet.
Meanwhile, rumors are rife that Samsung is nearing the mass production of its first smart ring. The company is said to be in talks with its suppliers for the manufacturing of key components. Its mobile business head TM Roh will review this process and finalize the mass production schedule.
The first-gen Samsung smart ring may arrive in mid-2024
Since the Galaxy Ring (or whatever the upcoming smart ring ends up being called) will be primarily used as a health monitoring device, Samsung will be required to obtain medical approvals. The whole process will reportedly take about a year, meaning a potential launch of the device in mid-2024.
In the meantime, Samsung continues to secure product names related to smart rings. Its latest trademark application may be missing the “Galaxy” branding, but it did something similar the last time around as well. The company initially submitted documents to the UKIPO for the monikers Samsung Circle, Samsung Index, and Samsung Insight.
Later, it added the Galaxy Prefix to all three and reapplied the trademarks with the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) in its home country. The Korean firm has also applied trademarks for the monikers Galaxy One, Galaxy Pulse, and Galaxy Rhythm with the KIPRIS. The descriptions for all of these monikers are pretty much the same as that for Samsung Curio. We will have to wait and see what are they.
