CUPERTINO, Calif., July 1 (UPI) -- Apple has filed to trademark the name "iWatch" in Japan, fueling rumors it plans to introduce a wearable computer later this year.
Filed June 3 through the Japan Patent Office, it follows by just a few weeks a similar application for an iWatch trademark in Russia.
It is not clear whether the latest filings in those countries suggest an upcoming release of an actual wearable computer that might communicate with users' iPhones or iPads or merely a bid to secure the rights to the name to eliminate brand confusion in various markets, PC Magazine reported Monday.
Apple head Tim Cook has repeatedly declined to directly discuss the possibility of a wearable device, saying only, "There's nothing that's gonna convince a kid who has never worn glasses, or a band, or a watch, or whatever, to wear one.
"Or at least I haven't see it. So I think there's lots of things to solve in this space," he said in an interview at the recent All Things Digital conference in California.
"But, it's an area that's ripe for exploration, it's ripe for us all getting exciting about," he said.
