Apple iWatch: Keeping up with patents and rumors

With an application filed on June 3 and made public last week, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is seeking to trademark "iWatch" in Japan.

This comes on the heels of news that the company filed for the trademark in Russia last month. Of course, this has added new energy to rumors of Apple releasing the iWatch later this year, however, the trademark news must be taken with a grain of salt: Major tech companies like Apple are constantly filing applications for trademarks in order to protect themselves if a certain product were to exist.

An iWatch may be in the works, but by filing the trademarks, Apple is seeking to make sure it has rights to the name, no matter what.