MOSCOW, August 1 (RAPSI) – The 9th Commercial Court of Appeals has upheld the lawfulness of the Central Directorate of the Federal Customs Service (FCS) decisions with regard to classification of Apple Watch products Apple Rus, Apple’s subsidiary in the country, imports in Russia, the court records read.

Apple Rus has turned to a court seeking to reverse the preliminary decisions FCS issued on November 13, 2015, with regard to the classification of “smart” Apple Watch products not as data transmitting devices exempt from duties, but as ordinary watches subject to import duties at up to 10%. On May 18, the Moscow Commercial Court dismissed the Apple Rus claim against this decision. The company took the appeal to a higher court, but lost its claim this Monday, as the court of appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling.

A company’s representative maintained that data transmitting module was the device’s key module and the product should be classified by this component, not the gadget’s functions, noting that it had no time measuring mechanism at all. Nevertheless, an FCS representative insisted the gadget was multifunctional and rightfully classified by its core function.

The Moscow Commercial Court ruled in favor of FCS saying its decisions were in line with the current customs regulations and did not infringe on the rights and lawful interests of the claimant as concerned its business activities. The court noted that it was common knowledge that Apple Watch was a wrist-wearable time measuring device looking and being used as such as its very name confirmed.

Earlier, the Commercial Court of Moscow has reviewed yet another lawsuit by the company against the rulings of the Central Directorate of the Federal Customs Service over classification of Apple Watch. That lawsuit was dismissed on June 1.