A British court ruled that Samsung Electronics(005930) must pay $11.6 million (about 16.1 billion won) in damages to Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group, saying a smartwatch screen design copied Swatch watches.
According to Bloomberg and others on the 26th (local time), the High Court in London reached this decision in a case where Swatch Group, which owns brands including Breguet, Longines, Omega, and Tissot, sought $170 million (about 235.8 billion won) from Samsung Electronics.
Samsung Electronics argued during the lawsuit that Swatch Group's demand was excessive. It said Swatch Group suffered no damage and that Samsung Electronics' revenue was only $300 (about 420,000 won). It also said the smartwatch screen designs at issue were created by third-party developers.
However, the court took issue with the fact that smartwatch backgrounds copying Swatch watches were sold for free or at low prices in the Samsung Electronics app store. Considering that Swatch Group has carefully managed and promoted its brands for decades, it said this damaged Swatch Group's brand value and, as a result, harmed its property rights.
After the court's decision, Swatch Group said in a statement, "(Samsung) repeatedly tried to play down the scale and significance of the infringement by belittling compensation for Swatch Group's well-known brands."
Samsung Electronics also issued a statement saying it is "carefully reviewing the court's decision and will consider all possible responses, including an appeal."