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I think Apple is probably going along the lines of brand confusion and similarity of product names. Everybody expected Apple's wearable device to be called the 'iWatch' and 'Apple Watch' was somewhat of a surprise. This doesn't stop some people referring to it as the 'iWatch' in slang. If a company comes out with a product called the 'iWatch', this may well lead to confusion about the product's relationship with Apple. If they snatch up the rights for the name, they avoid any of this.

I'm purely speculating here. I'm no expert.

But because Apple is so big, snatching names from them can have an entirely different effect. "iWatch" will not monetize on brand confusion, it will simply be entirely drowned out by what the masses are looking for. Every search engine algorithm will now connect iWatch with Apple Watch, and the real owner of this name will be somewhere on page 9 on Google.
 
"Compete" hahahahahaha

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Why would Apple want to give them cash for?

Because before the Apple Watch announcement everyone knew it as "iWatch". And putting the "i" in front of a name is very Apple like. I can just imagine some clueless customer buying one thinking it's from Apple. Apple may want to avoid that by buying out the trademark to stop others from using it.

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Why would Apple bother? They're not even using that name... it's AppleWatch.

Customer might be confused.
 
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