Samsung ordered to pay Swatch $11.6 million over smartwatch brand apps

Samsung Electronics was ordered to pay Swatch Group AG $11.6 million for failing to prevent apps that mimicked the Swiss company’s luxury brands such as Breguet, Longines and Omega on its own smartwatch displays.

The London High Court’s ruling, published on Wednesday, came after the Swiss watchmaker sought about $170 million from the Korean firm for displaying the Swatch brands.

Samsung argued that the damages weren’t worth more than about $300. “Use of the Swatch Group brands on Samsung’s supermarket shelves, downloadable for nothing or for little money, is to my mind very damaging,” Judge Marcus Smith said in the ruling.