Apple Vision Pro is expected to debut in the Chinese market early, but its trademark issue has not been resolved yet.
Interface News learned that Apple is likely to take a flexible approach by abandoning "Vision Pro" and using "Apple Vision Pro" as the official trademark of the product.
According to the reporter, the "Vision Pro" trademark in Chinese Mainland is currently scattered in the hands of many domestic companies, including Wuxi Leiming Shikang Technology Co., Ltd., Rugao Haohua Trade Co., Ltd., etc. The status of trademarks varies, and some are awaiting substantive examination. These trademark registered product categories mainly include digital signs, optical glasses, goggles, and so on, which do not conflict much with Apple's products.
The real tricky issue for Apple lies in Huawei's "Vision Pro" trademark. Its product categories include smart glasses (data processing), wearable computers, video monitors, head mounted virtual reality devices, wearable video displays, portable media players, head mounted headphones, etc., which directly conflict with the Apple headset.
According to public information, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. applied for the trademark on May 16, 2019 and officially registered it on November 28, 2021, with an exclusive right period ending on November 27, 2031.
According to Interface News reporters, Apple is currently applying for two trademarks, "Vision Pro" and "(Apple logo) Vision Pro". The former mainly targets product categories that are not covered by the Huawei trademark, while the latter focuses on the 0901 similar group strongly associated with the Vision Pro product. However, both trademarks are in a "refutation and reply review" status.
If Apple wants to officially sell its products in the Chinese market, its trademark is an unavoidable obstacle.
The most direct way is to assert that the Huawei "Vision Pro" trademark is invalid. In fact, Huawei's current trademark status is indeed in the process of "revocation/invalidation application review", which means that someone has filed an invalidation application for the trademark, and the applicant is likely to be Apple.
However, You Yunting, senior partner of Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, stated that the trademark invalidity trial process generally takes one to one and a half years, and administrative litigation can be filed after the results are obtained. The first and second trials will take another year.
This obviously cannot solve the urgent problem for Apple. You Yunting believes that the safest approach for Apple is to avoid it.
According to Interface News, Apple has applied for the registration of the "Apple Vision" trademark on July 20, 2023, which includes components and accessories for wearable computers, computer peripherals, and head worn devices.
Later, on July 27, 2023, Apple applied for the registration of the "Apple Vision Pro" trademark, which is also used for wearable computers and other applications. The current status of the trademark is "awaiting substantive examination" and has not yet been officially approved.
From the current situation, it is highly likely that Apple will eventually adopt the pure English trademark "Apple Vision Pro". Nowadays, whether it is the product page on the Chinese official website or the wording used in press releases, Apple uses the term "Apple Vision Pro".
You Yunting stated that after Apple uses the "Apple Vision Pro" trademark, the likelihood of the relevant public confusing the name with a Huawei product is relatively small, but there is still a risk of constituting similar trademark infringement. However, Apple can argue that weak trademark distinctiveness does not constitute infringement.
"Significance" refers to the correlation between the trademark name and the goods using the trademark. If the correlation between the two is strong, the significance is weak, and if the correlation is weak, the significance is strong. When the term "Vision" is used as a trademark for display devices, including mixed reality headsets, its significance is slightly weaker.
For Apple, Vision Pro is another opportunity to define the next generation of personal computing platforms, following the iPhone. Such a heavyweight product, Apple will definitely do its best not to let it be shrouded in the shadow of trademark infringement. But in reality, the legal departments of Apple and Huawei may still face a battle in the near future.