Swatch wins prize for design protection
The Swiss watch-making group, Swatch, headed by Nicolas Hayek (pictured), has been recognised for its extensive use of an international system to protect designs.
The Swiss watch-making group, Swatch, has been recognised for its extensive use of an international system to protect designs. The chairman of the Biel-based company, Nicolas Hayek (pictured), was awarded a medal by the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva.
The medal was handed to Hayek at a ceremony marking the registration by Swatch of the 50,000th industrial design to be deposited with WIPO.
WIPO administers a number of international design registration systems. Swatch has registered 39 trademarks since 1981, giving the country protection in up to 64 countries.
In Geneva, Hayek also announced that Swatch would launch a mobile phone watch by the end of this year. Hayek said the company hoped to build on its success in sales of traditional watches and would bring the new mobile phone watch onto the market. Turnover in the watch market shot up by 28 per cent last year.
From staff and wire reports.
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