Apple files for iWatch trademark in Russia, signals it's indeed working on a smartwatch

Apple has filed to register the iWatch trademark in Russia in a move that is a serious indication that the company is indeed preparing a smartwatch. Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that Apple has applied for two trademarks for a smartwatch under the iWatch name with Rospatent, Russia’s patent agency.

Apple has filed the patent application in two categories - for a computing device and a watch, so obviously we are talking about a smartwatch.

Apple has not officially confirmed the existence of the device, but it has already earlier registered the iWatch trademark (first claimed by Apple in Jamaica on December 3rd, 2012). Earlier reports have pegged the iWatch launch for the end of this year.

It won’t be an easy task for Apple to get the rights for iWatch in Russia as earlier in 2011 a trademark application for iWatch by a different company was rejected for striking similarity in the name with Swiss Swatch-registered name iswatch.

source: Izvestia via TechRadar