[nehalm]

It's in part a strategy to hide their plans from each other, but it's also to be able to announce their products to the public on their terms and control the timing and pace of the reveal.

You may be able to request trademark application records in those jurisdictions, but I imagine it's more of a process. You would also likely need to know the mark itself or the company filing the mark. In the case of Apple, if they file applications under a shell entity and without knowing the product name, it would be difficult to find the application. Also, given the high number of countries without electronic IP records, there are still plenty of opportunities to hide filings.

That being said, it's likely a loophole that will become increasingly narrow over time as more IP offices go online.

[geofft]

Oh, "but journalists" is probably the obvious thing I was missing, thanks. :)