Apple may be filing trademarks for upcoming products through the Trinidad and Tobago Intellectual Property Office, as properties for "Healthbook," "HealthKit" and "iResearch" were filed for just days after rumors of an Apple-branded health app hit the Web.
While the trademark filings are not attributed to Apple, nor is the company mentioned in the official filing, the "Healthbook" mark was lodged less than one week after a rumor hit the Web claiming the company was working on a health-related app by the same name.
As noted by MacRumors, which uncovered the trademarks, unattributed filings were also made for "Healh Book" "HealthKit" and "iResearch." It is possible that protection for the names was sought by an outside firm in response to the Healthbook rumor, Apple is known to file in Trinidad and Tobago to keep future product names under wraps until they debut.
Apple is thought to be working on a holistic health tracking solution that could have tie-ins with an as-yet-unannounced "iWatch" wearable. The company has long been active in the health monitoring field with collaborations with Nike, but more recently took the initiative in-house when it introduced the iPhone 5s with M7 motion coprocessor.
Following the M7's introduction, a number of fitness apps integrated the technology into their products, the first of which happened to be a custom Nike title.
Since then a steady stream of reports continue to speculate on potential iWatch components, including advanced health-minded features like optoelectronic heart rate and blood oxygen sensors. Over the past few months, Apple has been actively hiring experts in medical devices and fashion, suggesting the company is working on a high-style wearable with advanced health tracking capabilities.