Swiss watchmaker plans appeal after losing lawsuit against Fort Collins-based Vortic

FORT COLLINS and NEW YORK — International watch conglomerate Swatch Group will appeal a federal judge’s ruling last month that Fort Collins watchmaker Vortic Watch Co. was not infringing on its trademark rights.

Swatch, through its subsidiary Hamilton International Ltd., filed two notices of appeal regarding its lawsuits against Vortic and its founder R.T. Custer in federal courts in New York City and will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the city to review the case.

The filings do not include any information regarding a legal argument as to how or why the lower court erred in its decision.

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A federal judge ruled against Swatch in mid-September, saying the Vortic watches with vintage Hamilton faces were unlikely to confuse buyers in the market for a modern Hamilton sold by Swatch.

Vortic takes American pre-World War II pocket watches and repurposes their watch faces and movements into wristwatches with 3D-printed cases. 

The Swiss watch giant first sued Vortic in 2017 after the two parties had back-and-forth legal conversations for two years. Swatch purchased Hamilton’s trademark in 1974, five years after the American watchmaker shut down operations.

“While we are disappointed in the Swatch Group’s actions in filing the appeal, we are not surprised,” Custer said in a statement. “We will continue the fight, not just for Vortic, but for those like us who are subject to this sort of litigation.”

Swatch declined to comment.