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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,290
30,373



whiteiphone4now-500x210.jpg



Last November, we highlighted the story of New York City teenager Fei Lam, who had managed to sell $130,000 worth of white iPhone 4 parts in just a few months to customers eager to get their hands on a white iPhone 4 has Apple continued to delay the release of the official model. Lam claimed that he had developed a secondhand relationship with someone at Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn who had been supplying him with parts. At the time, the report noted that Lam had been contacted by a purported private investigator who claimed that Lam was trafficking in stolen goods, and Lam's site disappeared soon after.

lam_white_iphone_lawsuit.jpg



Apple yesterday finally filed a lawsuit against Lam and his parents, claiming infringement and dilution of its trademarks and engaging in deceptive practices through his conversion kit sales through his website at whiteiphone4now.com. Apple did, however, also file a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit at the same time, suggesting that a settlement has may have been reached, although Apple's request for dismissal without prejudice means that the company reserves the right to refile the claim at some point in the future.
Defendent Lam willfully and without authorization has used Apple's trademarks in connection with the sale of his "White iPhone 4 Conversion Kits," which among other things included white front and back panels with Apple's logo and "iPhone" trademarks that are used in connection with the promotion and sale of Apple's well known iPhone 4 handheld mobile digital electronic devices. Defendant at all times knew that Apple never has authorized the sale of white panels for its iPhone 4 mobile devices, and that he obtained these panels from sources that were not authorized by Apple or any of its suppliers to sell them.
Lam's parents were included in the suit under claims that they aided and abetted him by allowing him to engage in the activity while he was a minor under their supervision. Apple claims that Lam's actions dilutes Apple's trademarks and compromises its relationships with customers by causing confusion about whether Apple had authorized sales of white iPhones.

Apple's filing includes quotes from instant messaging exchanges between Lam and Alan Yang, a business owner in Shenzhen, China who was obtaining the parts for Lam, quotes that make clear that Yang was occasionally having difficulties getting parts shipped out as customs agents in Hong Kong were giving in troubles over the trademark issues.

Apple requested a permanent injunction barring the Lams from any further sales, forfeiture of all profits from the sale of white iPhone 4 parts, reimbursement for expenses occurred in pursuing the case, and additional financial penalties. With the request for dismissal, however, it is unclear what Apple may have obtained from the Lams in a potential settlement.

Article Link: Apple Files Lawsuit Against Teenager Who Sold White iPhone 4 Conversion Kits, Settlement Reached?
 

Pentad

macrumors 6502a
Nov 26, 2003
986
99
Indiana
Bravo, Apple! Way to go out of your way to crush the competition!


Sadly, if Microsoft would have done this (think Mike Rowe Soft incident) people would be rioting but Apple crushing a teenage is ok...
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,106
19,603
I'm sorry, but this is really dumb. And I mean really, really dumb.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
I don't think Apple cares how much money they got (unlikely that it covered even their lawyers' expenses), but the result is that nobody will do it again.

Way to go Apple! Crush a teenager in your path!

Please explain what you mean by that. So a teenager manages to get into contact with criminals in China who are selling stolen pre-release parts for the iPhone, imports them into the USA, starts a website, starts a flourishing trade which damages Apple's reputation, so what is Apple supposed to do in your opinion?
 

mrpither

macrumors regular
Aug 21, 2007
104
8
Allright! Another reason to make me hesitant to admit to owning an iPhone, or iPod, or MacBook, or contemplate buying more Apple crap if this is how those profits are used. Time to fix my signature...
 

MacMan86

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2008
324
0
UK
I'm sure there are going to be people on here who will say "leave him alone, he's just a kid" but he must have known what he was doing was going to land him in trouble. He was fitting stolen parts on phones after all. It's certainly 'enterprising', I'll give him that.
 

Doc750

macrumors 6502a
Aug 11, 2010
803
4
Apple is getting to big for it's britches. The fad will be passing within another 2 yrs, the bubble will burst. And apple will be remembered for what it is ... a really good marketing company.

hopefully the whole hacker crowd goes after apple for this petty crap and shuts them down like they did to sony
 

Tastic Bycrom

macrumors regular
Jul 15, 2008
113
0
Kansas City, MO
You know, if Apple hadn't created the demand and then dropped the ball on the white iPhone, this wouldn't have ever come up. Lawsuits are completely unnecessary in this case.
 

Crzyrio

macrumors 68000
Jul 6, 2010
1,586
1,110
He's only a teenager, Apple are just throwing their weight around. :(:apple::(

So if a teenager goes and kills someone you'd say the same thing?

The punishment may be a little harsh and a large sum of money but he should have thought of that before doing what he did.
 

eawmp1

macrumors 601
Feb 19, 2008
4,158
91
FL
He's only a teenager, Apple are just throwing their weight around. :(:apple::(

For all those complaining like this remember:

1) He reportedly illegally got stolen parts from Foxconn
2) His parts had the Apple logo and this is a trademark violation

He wants to engineer legitimate replacement parts without trademark logos, he might have a respectable business.
 

Cheffy Dave

macrumors 68030
Allright! Another reason to make me hesitant to admit to owning an iPhone, or iPod, or MacBook, or contemplate buying more Apple crap if this is how those profits are used. Time to fix my signature...

poor you, a crime is a crime:cool:

Apple is getting to big for it's britches. The fad will be passing within another 2 yrs, the bubble will burst. And apple will be remembered for what it is ... a really good marketing company.

hopefully the whole hacker crowd goes after apple for this petty crap and shuts them down like they did to sony

grow up, Apple just is protecting its rights, HE's A THIEF! Get it?
 
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SongEmu

macrumors member
Jul 21, 2008
48
0
Kinda saw it coming.

Come on, guys. He was selling probably illegitimately obtained parts. It was bound to happen. Look at Psystar. This was a legally STUPID move on the kid's part to not expect some kind of lawsuit.

Also, how the f* does a teenage kid weasel his way into Apple's supply chain?
 

MacMan86

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2008
324
0
UK
You know, if Apple hadn't created the demand and then dropped the ball on the white iPhone, this wouldn't have ever come up. Lawsuits are completely unnecessary in this case.

I would be interested to see how that kind of defence would go down in court...
 

TylerSwingle

macrumors newbie
Aug 10, 2009
2
0
For all those complaining like this remember:

1) He reportedly illegally got stolen parts from Foxconn
2) His parts had the Apple logo and this is a trademark violation

He wants to engineer legitimate replacement parts without trademark logos, he might have a respectable business.

He wouldn't have sold half of what he did if it wasn't for the logo.
 

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,409
3,134
Sorry but anyone saying leave the kid alone, or Apple is too Big Brother/Big Business either needs to get their head on straight or grow up or both. Anything of the sort just makes you sound like you don't know what you are talking about.
 
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