Apple Moves Against Knockoffs in New York

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If you bought Apple accessories from these stores in New York, Apple is demanding to know who you are and wants the companies to cough up your information. Don't feel bad, they want the names of the crooked suppliers too...so you'll be in good company. :eek:

Court records reveal that Apple has already seized unauthorized iPod, iPhone and iPad accessories sold by two stores in the Flushing neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, and is now demanding the names of its customers and suppliers. It is also asking one of the defendants -- Apple Story -- to change its name to keep consumers from confusing the unauthorized gear with Apple-sanctioned products.
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Wait, did this article just say "Apple seized unauthorized..." they have an enforcement arm now?
 
Further, Apple seized all of the "Big Apple" merchandise throughout the city, claiming it would confuse their customers.
 
I love how its illegal to have unauthorized ACCESSORIES now.

I mean a knock off iPad is one thing. A knock off sync cable is perfectly fine in my book. If it blows up your iPad, o well, Apple can say it voided the warranty, perfectly OK with that.
 
They are like dictators with this crap. Apparently they think they can take the law into their own hands?
 
necrosis said:
I love how its illegal to have unauthorized ACCESSORIES now.

I mean a knock off iPad is one thing. A knock off sync cable is perfectly fine in my book. If it blows up your iPad, o well, Apple can say it voided the warranty, perfectly OK with that.
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EXACTLY! +1 !
 
why are they after the consumers? common sense dictates that if you used something fake with you gadget then if it blows half your face off then its your fault and apple won't even consider warranty on your device, and beside don't they just ask you to buy a new device instead of them actually repairing it :D , win win situation for apple aint it?
 
Looks like Apples gonna be the one doing some.... KNOCKOFF's YEEEEEEEAAAAHHHHHHHHH
 
Wouldn't be such a problem if they didn't manufacture all their stuff in china. Anyone who does any manufacturing there should know occasionally some bribing will take place and for a few hours or a few days your own plants or at least smaller scale duplicates of your plant and equipment will make counterfeit product. Not to mention the reverse engineered copies that will copy your product down to the smallest defect. I simply don't understand why companies would take the risk.

There's a company a friend of mine works at that designs and manufactures landing gear for tractor trailers. About 1 month after they moved a bunch of their production to china exact duplicates, down to internal cosmetic defects in the castings, started showing up all over the place.
 
But Apple is amazing guys! They don't do anything wrong, they just protect their own products. Who needs customer choice? I like being told what I can and can't use, what I like and don't like. Lets go drink the koooooooooooollllllllll-aaaaiiiiiiddddddddddddd.

On a more serious note, it is probably a good idea to go after the uninformed innocent customers and destroy their purchased goods. Nothing says justice like destroying someones working paid for shit without replacement or reimbursement.
 
The problem is not that these people were selling accessories for Apple products, it's that they were allegedly selling these things with the official Apple logo on them.

Asking for records of the people who bought the items is going too far, though.
 
Steve said:
Wait, did this article just say "Apple seized unauthorized..." they have an enforcement arm now?
Click to expand...

You know they help fund, control (well they are part of the board for the group) and provide tech for a special branch of the police force right?

They were involved in the Gizmodo iPhone 4 debacle.

This is no surprise really, they would shut down the Chinese Apple stores if it wasn't for the fact the Chinese government don't care, and they have no leverage on a country that manufactures their shit.
 
The article is weird about a few statements, like Apple seizing stuff when really it should be a court mandated it at the request of Apple, after it had been shown evidence that there was cause for the seizure. It also makes sense that, if the stores are claiming the accessories are official Apple products, that they be stopped from doing so. They're lying to their customers, and that's wrong even if someone taking advantage of Apple and its fans by selling overpriced crap is funny in itself.

Given how the article frames things, I'm not sure what they mean about asking for the identities of the buyers. From the previous statements like "Apple seized stuff", they clearly are trying to spin the language for greater impact. I'm pretty sure destroying stock refers to the unsold stuff, not going to people's houses and seizing their items.
 
dyzophoria said:
why are they after the consumers? common sense dictates that if you used something fake with you gadget then if it blows half your face off then its your fault and apple won't even consider warranty on your device,
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Guess you've never faced a California judge or jury.....

It's always the fault of the company or whoever has the deepest pockets.

Buy some HOT coffee? Sit it between your legs and sue if it spills.
Stand on the top step of a ladder & fall (even though it says not to), just sue.
Eat a box of nails and get sick? Sue since the box didn't say that they where not edible....
 
necrosis said:
I love how its illegal to have unauthorized ACCESSORIES now.

I mean a knock off iPad is one thing. A knock off sync cable is perfectly fine in my book. If it blows up your iPad, o well, Apple can say it voided the warranty, perfectly OK with that.
Click to expand...

Apple sells Apple branded accessories:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/iphone_accessories?mco=MTM3NDcyNTY

Apple has to protect its trademark, or risk losing its rights to the trademark:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark#Maintaining_rights

Counterfeiting Apple headphones is no different than counterfeiting an iPhone. It's still counterfeiting, and if you don't see the problem with counterfeit goods, then you're an idiot.
 
Kynnath said:
The article is weird about a few statements, like Apple seizing stuff when really it should be a court mandated it at the request of Apple, after it had been shown evidence that there was cause for the seizure. It also makes sense that, if the stores are claiming the accessories are official Apple products, that they be stopped from doing so. They're lying to their customers, and that's wrong even if someone taking advantage of Apple and its fans by selling overpriced crap is funny in itself.

Given how the article frames things, I'm not sure what they mean about asking for the identities of the buyers. From the previous statements like "Apple seized stuff", they clearly are trying to spin the language for greater impact. I'm pretty sure destroying stock refers to the unsold stuff, not going to people's houses and seizing their items.
Click to expand...

If you read further down in the article, the "seizing" actually goes like this:

"According to a court filing from Apple, the company sent representatives to Apple Story and Fun Zone in Flushing on 'multiple occasions over several weeks,' where they bought an assortment of iPod, iPhone and iPad cases, as well as stereo headsets designed for use with iPhones."

This is why when the article talks about Apple going after customers of the stores, I am thinking they actually mean that these stores may be supplying other stores, and Apple wants to know which stores.
 
evilsofa said:
If you read further down in the article, the "seizing" actually goes like this:

"According to a court filing from Apple, the company sent representatives to Apple Story and Fun Zone in Flushing on 'multiple occasions over several weeks,' where they bought an assortment of iPod, iPhone and iPad cases, as well as stereo headsets designed for use with iPhones."

This is why when the article talks about Apple going after customers of the stores, I am thinking they actually mean that these stores may be supplying other stores, and Apple wants to know which stores.
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I think basically they're looking for any large scale purchases, like somebody buying 100 of something from one of these stores, then turning around and selling it on Amazon or Ebay. Imagine the PR storm it'd cause if individual buyers actually started getting legal threats for buying something that looked real but wasn't. They might also want to send letters to people just letting them know they'd been ripped off and what they bought (for all we know at full Apple price) wasn't an actual Apple product.
 
Yeah, it seems they want to dismantle the whole network, not just go after the few big fish. Don't really think that's wrong, so long as their 'targets' are trying to impersonate their company or products.
 
Isn't every product a Apple Knockoff in some way? Apple makes iPod, and everyone tries to copy it. Even though they weren't the first to make a MP3 player. Apple makes iPhone, everyone tries to copy it. Even though they didn't make the first smart phone. Same thing for tablets and etc.

If it's white and shinny it's a Apple Knockoff. Consumers can easily buy a cheaper product with better support, but no they go after Knockoffs.

This should tell people that when it comes to Apple products, people buy it just to be hip. That's why Knockoffs exist.
 
necrosis said:
I love how its illegal to have unauthorized ACCESSORIES now.

I mean a knock off iPad is one thing. A knock off sync cable is perfectly fine in my book. If it blows up your iPad, o well, Apple can say it voided the warranty, perfectly OK with that.
Click to expand...

It's a knockoff sync cable with the Apple logo and trademark indicators on the packaging. Not kosher. I suspect they want any customer list to warn people, but this whole article is worded so strangely it's hard to figure.
 
necrosis said:
I love how its illegal to have unauthorized ACCESSORIES now.

I mean a knock off iPad is one thing. A knock off sync cable is perfectly fine in my book. If it blows up your iPad, o well, Apple can say it voided the warranty, perfectly OK with that.
Click to expand...

You know that just about every accessories for anything are licensed by the manufacturer of the items the accessories work with, right? Not just Apple.
 
Azhar said:
You know that just about every accessories for anything are licensed by the manufacturer of the items the accessories work with, right? Not just Apple.
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Shhhh! Don't try to actually use common sense with these idiots. They don't want to hear that Microsoft does it, Sony does it, Google does it. They only care that Apple does it.
 
zg75 said:
It's a knockoff sync cable with the Apple logo and trademark indicators on the packaging. Not kosher. I suspect they want any customer list to warn people, but this whole article is worded so strangely it's hard to figure.
Click to expand...

I doubt they are getting the customer list just to personally call up each and every one of them to warn them. They could have easily put up a notice or send an email to all of their customers warning them about these knock off.
 
I agree if they are selling knock offs with the Apple logo they should be shut down, sued, etc. Just generic replacement parts or accessories though? No way.

I do find it awfully amusing though that there is a generic accessory store directly outside the Pentagon City Apple Store, especially amusing that people would buy the cheap/generic copies there when they could buy the same thing from Amazon or other places for even less.
 
necrosis said:
I love how its illegal to have unauthorized ACCESSORIES now.

I mean a knock off iPad is one thing. A knock off sync cable is perfectly fine in my book. If it blows up your iPad, o well, Apple can say it voided the warranty, perfectly OK with that.
Click to expand...

In regards to the accessories, I'd think there would be a Magnuson-Moss issue with how Apple's going after these folks. I could be wrong, though...
 
zg75 said:
It's a knockoff sync cable with the Apple logo and trademark indicators on the packaging. Not kosher. I suspect they want any customer list to warn people, but this whole article is worded so strangely it's hard to figure.
Click to expand...

If those accessories infringe on Apple's trademarks, patents, or trade dress, I agree that Apple is in the clear going after these folks on this part of it. If not, sounds like BS to me.
 
dyzophoria said:
why are they after the consumers? common sense dictates that if you used something fake with you gadget then if it blows half your face off then its your fault and apple won't even consider warranty on your device, and beside don't they just ask you to buy a new device instead of them actually repairing it :D , win win situation for apple aint it?
Click to expand...

So Apple can contact them, let them know the stuff is counterfeit, and offer to exchange it for the real deal (for a small exchange fee of course).

If they refuse, then it's on them. :)
 
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