Samsung could be set to make products like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 or Galaxy Watch 4 more durable, after filing a trademark for something called “Pro-Shield."
The trademark, discovered by LetsGoDigital, was filed with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office and concerns smartphones, smartwatches, and both their respective frames. In other words, Samsung could have plans to boost the strength of both product lines.
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The interesting thing about this is that Samsung recently filed trademarks for something called ‘Armor Frame.’ Those trademarks didn’t offer much in the way of details, though we can fill in some of the gaps with some educated predictions.
Like Pro-Shield, it’s designed for smartphones and smartphone frames. That suggests that it’s a way of boosting the strength of a phone’s frame. Though how is still unclear.
The Pro-Shield trademark is equally void of details. However we can assume that Pro-Shield is also a way of protecting smartwatches and smartphones from whatever dangers they may face out in the world. Our guess? It’s something to do with strengthening the displays.
After all, Apple already launched the ‘Ceramic Shield’ display with the iPhone 12. It would be logical for Samsung to also adopt the word ‘shield’ for some sort of strengthened display glass. The phone industry loves nothing more than to copy what everyone else is doing, especially where Apple is concerned.
Pro-Shield may also have something to do with phone and watch frames, given the categorization on the trademark filing. However, with Armor Frame also in the mix, it’s unclear what Samsung has planned.
It feels a little pointless to trademark two things that perform basically the same function. But it will all depend on the smaller details, and what kind of protection Pro-Shield and Armor Frame have to offer.
We'd posit that Pro-Shield could apply to Samsung's rumored upcoming foldable phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Flip 3. Samsung has already boosted the strength of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 over its predecessor, but it could still strengthen the foldable phones display further for longer-term endurance.
In the end, protection is protection, and smartphones and smartwatches are notoriously fragile things. The sturdier they are going out of the box, the better it is for everyone. Especially since you’re going to have them out and on display for long periods of time.
We’re just going to have to wait and see what Samsung brings to the table when it launches the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Flip 3, and the Galaxy Watch 4.
