Cartier's Short-Lived Apple Lawsuit

Proving once again that luxury brands have no sense of humor, Cartier sued Apple over an iPhone app that displayed obvious fake watches including a version that looked like Cartier's popular Tank design. The "Fake Watch" and "Fake Watch Gold Edition" apps allowed users to show the time on " look-alike famous wristwatches" on Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. The obvious fakes used names like "Relax" for Rolex and "Carpark" for Cartier. "Fake Watch" was a free download and "Fake Watch Gold Edition" sold for 99 cents in Apple's iTunes store. No word on if Cartier sued the maker of the app, Digitopolis Game Studio.

But almost as soon as the fracas began, it was over. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cartier is withdrawing the suit that it filed earlier in the same day after the apps were removed from iTunes.