Samsung and Qualcomm file trademarks for smartwatch related devices

Korean manufacturer Samsung has filed a trademark application for the name Samsung GEAR. Doesn't that sound like the name of a smartwatch to you? Back in March, Samsung VP Lee Young He confirmed that Sammy is working on a smartwatch, but did not give out any clue to a possible name of the device. On the other hand, Apple's smartwatch was dubbed iWatch by the media from the get go and the Cupertino based company has just started filing to trademark that title in a number of countries including Japan, Mexico and Russia.

Samsung's filing had a primary description of the device that could have been for anything while the secondary description lists wristbands, bracelets, and "watches that communicate data to personal digital assistants, smart phones, table PCs, PDA, and personal computers through internet websites and other computer and electronic communications networks..."

Meanwhile, Qualcomm has trademarked the name TOQ for a device that will be a "personal communication hub in the form of a wristwatch; portable electronic devices for transmitting and reviewing text, data, image, and audio files; hands free devices for mobile phones; battery chargers." The company, not known for producing actual finished goods for consumers, could be ready to offer chipset solutions to smartphone manufacturers and might be readying a reference device to show the likes of Samsung, LG, Google and Microsoft what Qualcomm can offer them when it comes to powering a smartwatch.

source: Phandroid (1), (2)