Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,740
39,691



apple_story.jpg



"Apple Story" in Flushing, Queens (Source: Greg Autry via BirdAbroad)
Reuters reports on a lawsuit filed by Apple against a pair of stores in New York City for their sale of unauthorized counterfeit Apple products. The trademark infringement suit was filed last month but has remained sealed until now in order to facilitate seizure of the counterfeit items from the two stores in the Chinatown section of Flushing in Queens.
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.

All of the purchased goods carried an Apple trademark, according to the amended complaint. They were also marked with the phrase "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China," and included markings similar to those found on genuine Apple goods.

The headsets came with packaging that was "nearly an exact duplicate" of that for genuine Apple goods, the lawsuit said.
Apple was granted a warrant to seize the counterfeit products on July 27th, and the courts have granted a preliminary injunction barring the two stores from selling the knockoff products. Apple has also requested that one of the stores, Apple Story, change its name in order to prevent confusion with Apple's own stores and branding, but the court has yet to rule on that issue. A settlement between Apple and the stores' owners is said to be under negotiation.

Apple's case appears to extend beyond the two stores, however, as the lawsuit seeks to include people and businesses engaged in the production, sale, and distribution of the products, although those defendants have yet to be identified.

Article Link: Apple Targets New York City Stores Selling Counterfeit Apple Products
 
No offense... anyone wanna tell me how they're counterfeit?
They're just cases... (from what I see)
Unless they have "apple logos"

Reading is fundamental.

They were also marked with the phrase "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China," and included markings similar to those found on genuine Apple goods.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; de-de) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

apple needs a new spoof name. bit i cant think of anything good
 
I could understand if it were fake apple devices being sold, but just accessories doesn't seem like a big deal. Why is apple wasting it's time doing pointless stuff like this?
 
god... there are so many street vendors selling fake apple stuff with their logo and their trademark all over NYC. are they really gonna go after every street vendor?
 
Despite what my location says, I'm actually living in Flushing right now, but I haven't been to either of these stores. I'll head over this evening :p

I'm more surprised they're not targeting the stores in Manhattan, the ones with recessed entrances and glass displays with fake iPods and iPhones all neatly lined up out front. Some of those fakes are pretty good too-- for example, there's an iPhone 4 knockoff that the average person probably wouldn't notice was fake until they used it.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8L1)

Good for Apple. The crazy thing is that the iPhone market is so big companies shouldn't have to do this to sell their products.
 
I could understand if it were fake apple devices being sold, but just accessories doesn't seem like a big deal. Why is apple wasting it's time doing pointless stuff like this?

are you kidding me "accessories doesn't seem like a big deal" ......
you really have no clue about business do you sixtafoua. you should be ashamed of yourself.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

bushido said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; de-de) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

apple needs a new spoof name. bit i cant think of anything good

How about Granny Smith? ;)
 
"sale of unauthorized counterfeit Apple products"

wouldnt that phrase imply there is such a thing as authorized counterfeit Apple products? ;)
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A5274d Safari/7534.48.3)

But I gotta say I love the giant iPhone "app" display case. Very creative!
 
I could understand if it were fake apple devices being sold, but just accessories doesn't seem like a big deal. Why is apple wasting it's time doing pointless stuff like this?
I'm all for free enterprise but riding the coat tails of somebody who did all the work and sponging off the private investors (like me) who expect a return ain't the way to do it.

That said, I bet the Nigerian scammers are glad the Chinese "clone" kooks are taking some of the bad press from them. :D
 
god... there are so many street vendors selling fake apple stuff with their logo and their trademark all over NYC. are they really gonna go after every street vendor?
No, but they will go after a retail store that tries to pass themselves off as an Apple Store(y)
But I gotta say I love the giant iPhone "app" display case. Very creative!

That is neat, reminds me of the display in front of our local LEGO store (looks like the underside of a giant 2x4 LEGO brick, with small LEGO sets or Minifigures inside the cylinders.)
 
I could understand if it were fake apple devices being sold, but just accessories doesn't seem like a big deal. Why is apple wasting it's time doing pointless stuff like this?

Pointless stuff? Your post is pointless stuff. (OK mods, send me a stern warning email.)

If you own trademarks and don't enforce them, you could, in a court of law, lose the mark. That's part and parcel to trademark protection and enforcement.
 
Come on Really?

Who in thier right mind buys anything from a store called "Apple Story" and honestly believes they bought the real deal?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.