Rolex, one of the most traditional luxury watch companies, is suing a young educational watch company, Oyster & Pop, which has a similar name to one of the company’s models, the Oyster Perpetual, named after Rolex’s first watch. brand to include a hermetically sealed window to protect the mechanisms from water or dust.
If that kind of luxury item costs more than R$ 47 thousand in Brazil, on the other hand, the colorful watches with large numbers by Oyster & Pop —created during the pandemic by sisters Emma Ross-McNairn and Sarah Davies— can be found for around US$ 25 (R$ 130). The smaller company also sells various items to teach children how to read the time beyond the digital displays.
Rolex suggests in the process that customers may be confused by the similar name and asks for changes throughout the company’s identity —from the name to the logo and even on the website itself, to avoid any association between the two brands, even though the target audience of them is diametrically opposed.
The sisters responded to Rolex with a letter listing their reasons for considering the action unfair, offering a settlement in which they committed not to produce adult watches, nor that they would change the brand to just Oyster. The inspiration for the name, by the way, would have come from a public place, the Oyster Bend. In addition, they tell how the changes demanded by the giant would cause great financial damage. Rolex, so far, has not given in to the response, and the sisters are moving a petition on change.org, with more than 70 thousand signatures.
Previously, the companies had already faced each other legally in the US regarding a registered trademark, which Oyster & Pop gave up using. The small company has even changed its own company registration classification to underline its playful and educational character, but even so, it seems that it was not enough.