Don’t expect to get a virtual Omega, Cartier or other big-name watch face on your Android Wear smartwatch

Anyone thinking they can use their smartwatch as a virtual copy of a well-known watch face is going to be disappointed, reports TorrentFreak: big-name watchmakers are issuing cease-and-desist notices to those creating smartwatch versions of their designs.

Big brands including Omega, Tissot, Certina and Mondaine have taken exception to ‘pirate’ faces being made available for cutting edge smartwatches. 

TorrentFreak has learned that IWC, Panerai, Omega, Fossil, Armani, Michael Kors, Tissot, Certina, Swatch, Flik Flak and Mondaine are sending cease and desist notices to sites and individuals thought to be offering faces without permission.

The Moto 360‘s round face has made it especially popular as a platform for premium watch designs, with LG’s G Watch R going the same circular route.

Watch companies are now hitting back, variously citing copyright, design rights and registered trademarks. Download site owners being given as little as 24 hours to remove the content, with one of them – FaceRepo – saying it is now using keyword filtering to exclude infringing content before it can even be uploaded.

“If these [brand names] are found in the face name, description or tags, this will cause the upload to be rejected with a message stating that sharing of copyrighted or trademarked material is prohibited,” FaceRepo’s owner notes.

Competition in the smartwatch field is increasing, Samsung recently launching its Gear S, Microsoft tipped to launch a fitness-orientated smartwatch in time for the holidays and HTC expected to join the fray next year – with the Apple Watch providing further competition next year.

Via Gizmodo