Oh, Snap! The camera company Snap Inc (Snap) is suing the US patent office for rejecting its proposed trademark of the term “spectacles”. Snap was told that the term is still a generic term for smart glasses and that its version “has not acquired distinctiveness.” Hoorah for posh Brits and anyone else who still uses the 18th-century term for corrective eyewear.
Snap's camera-equipped ‘Spectacles’ were first launched in 2016 and initially faced huge losses. Recent times have seen CEO Evan Spiegel reinvent the eyewear into an augmented reality iteration, which is available to a select few. Moving away from simply snapping your dinner, Spiegals's desire to integrate AR shows his long-term vision for the product.
Why it matters
Snap’s willingness to fight this trademark war shows its faith in the product. Despite suffering from early heavy losses, the recent emergence of the metaverse has got companies that make products in the digital world (and all it entails) to throw up endless possibilities.
