Apple sued by Irish company over iWatch name

Apple may not have called its smartwatch the iWatch, but it is still being sued over its usage by Dublin-based Probendi.

While Apple doesn't use the iWatch brand, it does include it in Google ad searches to redirect consumers towards the Apple Watch. Probendi warned Apple against using the term last year, but Apple has used it in Google ads to ensure that people find the smartwatch if they type in iWatch by mistake.

Probendi, an apps development company, owns the iWatch trademark in Europe. It released a statement outlining the case on its website.

It wrote that the Apple Watch's announcement was preceded and followed by multiple rumours using the iWatch name. As Probendi is "the sole entity" lawfully entitled to use the iWatch name, it promises to take legal action.

The iWatch trademark is, according to an audit by Barzano & Zanrdo, valued at €87 million.

This isn't the first time that Apple has run into trademark issues over a product name. Apple paid $60 million in 2012 to resolve a dispute in China over the iPad.