GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is a British pharmaceutical company headquartered in Brentford, London and in 2015 was considered the sixth largest pharmaceutical company in the world. With Companies like Apple slowly turning Apple Watch into a medical device, GSK has decided that they should dabble in the devices market as well.

Unfortunately at the moment, all we have as evidence is a granted design patent from the U.S. Patent Office. Design patents only illustrate the design itself. This kind of patent never details the invention nor guide us as to even the nature of the device or, in this case, point to a field of medicine it plans to address with this wearable device.

So why do a report on a wearable device not from Apple? Because at some point in time we'll either see more medical companies jumping into the fitness band or smartwatch market to challenge Apple, or begin to hear about the medical world partnering with savy device makers like Apple. It's definitely a trend to keep an eye on going forward.

As for GSK, they announced a partnership with NEUROMetrix last January to make a patient device that would involve Quell pain relief technology. Quell is drug-free and has been cleared by the FDA for treatment of chronic pain without a prescription. You could read more about it here.  

Whether this latest device design is a next-gen Quell related consumer / patient device or for yet another medical condition is unknown at this time.

GlaxoSmithKline "Wearable Device" Design Patent  

USPTO Grants GSK a Design Patent

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