Apple Vision Pro's Name May Still Face Trademark Issues in China

[MacRumors]

The Apple's Vision Pro headset may still face trademark issues with Huawei when the company launches it in China.

As highlighted by the South China Morning Post, Chinese tech giant Huawei registered the "Vision Pro" name in the country in 2021. This registration encompasses a wide array of goods and services, including virtual reality headsets and wearable video displays, effectively granting Huawei exclusive rights to the "Vision Pro" name in China until November 2031.

According to the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), Apple's application for the trademark rights to "Vision Pro" is currently in a state of "refusal to re-examine." Additionally, Apple applied to trademark the brand name "Apple Vision Pro" in June 2023, and this application is still under examination, leaving the company's branding strategy for the product in China uncertain.

Huawei's first foray into smart eyewear came with the introduction of "Vision Glass" in December 2022, expanding its portfolio under the Vision brand, which also includes a range of smart TV screens. Following the release of Apple's Vision Pro in the United States in February, Huawei has been rumored to be preparing to launch similar devices.

Article Link: Apple Vision Pro's Name May Still Face Trademark Issues in China

 

[bradman83]

Plenty of products have different brandings in different countries or regions. The Mazda 6 sedan is known as the Mazda Atenza in Japan. Diet Coke is called Coke Light in Europe. Apple could call it the Apple Reality Pro or Apple Spatial Pro in China and be done with it.

 

[lkrupp]

Im beginning to think that there are Trademark squatters just like the URL squatters. They register everything they can think of and then wait for someone to want it and willing to pay. “Vision Pro” seems very generic.

 

[PowerButton]

iVision Pro? 🤷‍♂️

 

[coffeemilktea]

Chinese tech giant Huawei registered the "Vision Pro" name in the country in 2021.

How awkward... considering China is one of their biggest markets, you think before releasing the AVP, Apple would have Googled (or since this is China, Baidu'd?) to see if someone in China was already using the name they wanted to use for their hot new product. 😅

 

[Hopefully Smarter]

don't give a **** about what china thinks

 

[iZac]

Odd, it's not like they trademarked "TV" or "Watch"

I thought the point of the whole "Apple <Insert Product Name>" naming convention was to make it impossible to lose access to a Trademark?

I'm sure the trademark squatters are why they moved away from iThing branding.

 

[Octavius8]

That’s what you get for getting late out of bed. Now Apple will comolain and cry “is unfair mom!, ban Huawei more!”.

 

[zv470]

It was a missed opportunity they should have called it the new iMac.

 

[LV426]

Is iCreepy still available?

 

[mevans7]

They should cut it in half and call it the iEye Pro.

 

[Plutonius]

Im beginning to think that there are Trademark squatters just like the URL squatters. They register everything they can think of and then wait for someone to want it and willing to pay. “Vision Pro” seems very generic.

Where Huawei is involved, I would not have put it past them to have acquired from someone at Apple the list of probable names.

 

[Plutonius]

How awkward... considering China is one of their biggest markets, you think before releasing the AVP, Apple would have Googled (or since this is China, Baidu'd?) to see if someone in China was already using the name they wanted to use for their hot new product. 😅

Apple's patent lawyers (especially with Apple's legal team) would have uncovered it before they released the product. The fact that they did not discover it leads me to the opinion that something shady is going on especially since it's Huawei.

 

[Shirasaki]

don't give a **** about what china thinks

yeah but then. China don’t give a **** about what apple thinks.
one order from govt and apple’s presence in china will go in flames almost Instantaneously.

 

[boast]

I'm sure they can find a way to convince them. Maybe "accidentally" give them anyone's icloud access they want in exchange for the trademark?

 

[Yrmmont]

Call it, in China:
Isight
Isee
Imagine

 

[Ristretto]

Hopefully there's no issue because it is called , "Apple Vision Pro". Since it's associated with Apple everyone defaults to just "Vison Pro" or Apple's "Vison Pro".

 

[foobarbaz]

Odd, it's not like they trademarked "TV" or "Watch"

I thought the whole point the whole "Apple <Insert Product Name>" naming convention was to make it impossible to lose access to a Trademark?

I'm sure the trademark squatters are why they moved away from iThing branding.

TV and watch are generic and descriptive terms. That means they cannot be trademarked. Adding "Apple" in front of it is the workaround.

While Vision allures to something related to eyes, it's not a word used for describing goggles, glasses, or headsets. That's what makes it a brand on its own.

They could name it Apple Headset without any trademark issues, but they really want to pretend it's an entirely new category.

 

[iZac]

…I mean they have iSight right there for the taking.

I’m still waiting for them to bring back “iBook” for whatever foldable they announce

 

[laptech]

Interesting that the China tech company that the US has been giving a hard time to lately just so happens to trademark the name Vision Pro whilst a US company was in the process of designing and building a device that was going to use the same name.

 

[rorschach]

Plenty of products have different brandings in different countries or regions. The Mazda 6 sedan is known as the Mazda Atenza in Japan. Diet Coke is called Coke Light in Europe. Apple could call it the Apple Reality Pro or Apple Spatial Pro in China and be done with it.

Yeah. AirPort was AirMac in Japan

AirMac Extreme 802.11ac - 技術仕様 - Apple サポート (日本)

support.apple.com

 

[RedOakRedemption]

Is iCreepy still available?

There is pattern of folks who can't afford it trying to throw it under the bus. Or who call it a failure. I guess that is human nature

 

[farmboy]

Im beginning to think that there are Trademark squatters just like the URL squatters. They register everything they can think of and then wait for someone to want it and willing to pay. “Vision Pro” seems very generic.

You're probably right. But in the US at least you have to provide evidence of the trademark's use in commerce.

 

[farmboy]

Apple's patent lawyers (especially with Apple's legal team) would have uncovered it before they released the product. The fact that they did not discover it leads me to the opinion that something shady is going on especially since it's Huawei.

China is notorious for favoring its homegrown companies when it comes to patent and trademark disputes. It's not even debatable. Whether this is one of those cases, I don't know. But I'd be a little suspicious.

 

[frenchcamp49er]

That’s what you get for getting late out of bed. Now Apple will comolain and cry “is unfair mom!, ban Huawei more!”.

You mean like Epic, Spotify and the EU?