Swatch defeats Apple in legal war over catch-phrase

San Francisco, April 21: Swiss watchmaker Swatch defeated Apple in a legal battle where the iPhone-maker claimed that the watch company used the phrase "One More Thing" -- which was regularly used by Steve Jobs in his key notes.

While launching a "film noir inspired" set of watches in Australia, Swatch did use the phrase but it said the line was picked up from an old detective TV serial "Columbo" in which the character often said "just one more thing", 9To5Mac reported on Saturday.

Drian Richards, the hearing officer of the case, sided with Swatch and ordered Apple to pay the watchmaker's legal fees.

He noted that Apple had never used the "One More Thing" phrase in conjunction with any "particular" goods or services.

How much will Apple have to pay back to Swatch remains undisclosed as of now.

In August, 2015 Swatch had trademarked the expression "One More Thing".

However, Apple believed that watch-maker should not be allowed to use that trademark over the phrase and instead applied for its own trademark.

This latest ruling in Australia comes after Apple lost a similar legal battle with Swatch in Switzerland earlier in April where the watchmaker used the phrase "Tick Different" while promoting its new NFC-enabled watch.

Apple argued that the phrase unfairly traded on its "Think Different" slogan it used in the 1990s but the Swiss court sided by Swatch on the issue.

In 2007, Swatch trademarked the term "iSwatch" before Apple could register for "iWatch."