Has Vostok copyrighted the Amphibia's design?
Everyone knows that Vostoks are absurdly water resistant for the money due to the way they're designed. The acrylic crystal, thick gasket and caseback/o-ring work in tandem to give the Amphibia more water resistance as it goes deeper. The result is the Amphibia's often-touted 800m of water resistance, which has been proven by several people who have water pressure tanks.
But that left me wondering: what's stopping another watchmaker from just copying the engineering that went into the Amphibia into a dive watch of their own? I could imagine Seiko could replicate the architecture of an Amphibia and sell it for around the same price as a 5KX (or turn around and sell it for ten times that). The only brand that has something similar to the Amphibia is Bulova with the Mil-Ships, but even that only has a similar o-ring and caseback.
Do any if you guys know about this?
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if they did then would't the copyright already be expired? like how for example there are so many eta clones because their copyright expired. Maybe its just that the swiss and japanese are too proud of their own designs to copy russian design
My job involves intellectual property (patents, copyrights, trademarks, etc.), so I'll give you the simple version of the answer.
The law:
Vostok has/had a lot of utility patents (which cover the functional aspects), which they licensed to a European company (which sells under the brand Vostok-Europe). It's likely that many of Vostok's utility patents have expired … at least in some countries.
Design patents (which cover the visual appearance) have a lifespan of around 15 years. So any classic Vostok design can probably be copied.
Copyrights (covering writing, illustrations, photos, film, and software) last for 75 years beyond the death of the original creator of the work. Trademarks don't expire, provided the company pays the fees to maintain them. Vostok-Europe probably has the right to use these (depending on the details of the license agreement). Nobody else would.
Trade secrets last as long as you can keep them a secret.
That's a super-simple explanation, because laws vary from country to country. And I've only dealt with the laws in a small number of countries.
The economics:
If Seiko adds the technology from Vostok's expired patents into a $200 watch, they will be able to sell that watch for $200. It's not a differentiating feature that Seiko can charge more for. I can get Vostok's technology for $62-$63 dollars by buying an Amphibia.
There may be some associated costs to Seiko, such as new equipment to build the different parts. That might dissuade them (or another company) from following that route.
if they did then would't the copyright already be expired? like how for example there are so many eta clones because their copyright expired. Maybe its just that the swiss and japanese are too proud of their own designs to copy russian design
That could be. Here in the West we typically think of Russian engineering in two extremes: horribly built and low quality (like a Lada) or antiquated but bulletproof (The Kalashnikov family of rifles and as we know, Vostoks). It would make sense that LVMH, the Swatch Group and even Rolex would think that they're too good for Russian designs; after all, the USSR lost the Cold War. In regards to Seiko (sort of Citizen, because they technically made the only "Western" version of an Amphibia via the Mil-Ships) I think their main goal is making the best watch they can using the same system of mass production that allowed them to beat the Swiss at their own game back in the 60s, Grand Seiko/Credor notwithstanding.