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US Border Patrol Seized 2,000 OnePlus Buds Believing Them to Be 'Counterfeit Apple AirPods'
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I would like to remind people that anybody who makes a black pen that has a goldish nib at one end, and is cigarish shape, and has a cap with a clip on it is blatantly ripping off Mont Blanc.
Take another look at the box pictured in the CBP press release:
There is no Apple branding on it at all. There is however bold (and red) OnePlus branding.
Compare this to the Apple (white) packaging:
This Is the Pinnacle of Product Packaging | Gear Patrol
Apple AirPods are more than just great wireless earbuds that are thoughtfully designed. Including the way they are packaged.www.gearpatrol.com
Now have a look at the actual product:
OnePlus Store - OnePlus (Sverige)
www.oneplus.com
I would say that nobody that is even remotely experienced with actual AirPods (and cares at all) would mistake these for an Apple product.
I think this answers your question.
My AirPods don’t have an Apple logo either.
All I see is AirPods in a red box.
The box is clearly not infringing anything: it doesn't use Apple's brand or tries to look like the Apple packaging.
The product itself is open to debate, especially for the case.
Apple has actual design patents protecting the AirPods Pro case design and the copycat product has definitely a similar case design. Whether the similarity is enough to be considered an infringement, I don't know.
Breaking news: Everyone in US Customs is illiterate.
Illiterate and/or incompetent. As @chucker23n1 pointed out, this blunder probably had to pass through several levels of dumdum to get posted to social media. Bad look for everyone, 'cept 1+. Their response was just the right amount of cheeky.
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Had that been the case, it would have been shown. This was just an epic failure put on display for all to see.
Even if the product is a 'copy', the company still has to get approval from the original owner to allow them to make a copy. Apple own the rights to the Aipod and thus anyone making a 'copy' without having the right to do so is ingriinging on Apple's rights and thus the product can be seized at customes, regardless of what the outer packaging looks like.
A few years ago there was a television series about customs. TV crews followed custom officers doing their jobs. I remember seeing on one of the episodes custom officers were talking about the different ways fraudsters try to get fake/copied goods into the country and one of the methods was to transport the fake/copied goods in fake packaging in the hope the goods would get through customs. At the end of the journey, the fraudsters would take the fake/copied items out of the packaging and re-packaged it genuine looking packaging that was made by the fraudsters elsewhere. Customs officer said this practice does happen and it is something they have to look out for.
Now could this be the case for the Oneplus pods? and customs are holding the goods whilst they carry out further investigations.
A few years ago there was a television series about customs. TV crews followed custom officers doing their jobs. I remember seeing on one of the episodes custom officers were talking about the different ways fraudsters try to get fake/copied goods into the country and one of the methods was to transport the fake/copied goods in fake packaging in the hope the goods would get through customs. At the end of the journey, the fraudsters would take the fake/copied items out of the packaging and re-packaged it genuine looking packaging that was made by the fraudsters elsewhere. Customs officer said this practice does happen and it is something they have to look out for.
Now could this be the case for the Oneplus pods? and customs are holding the goods whilst they carry out further investigations.
Sometimes, people manage to join U.S. Customs without a high school education.
No. They simply screwed up. 1+ is not an unknown brand here in the US and around the world. Besides, they'd need no further investigation than googling the name on the box. Reviews of the product are all over youtube. There is no excuse for the CBP. They stepped in social media doo doo.
So?
They clearly unpacked the product. Surely someone had a working computer to look up whether this is a OnePlus product?
Counterfeit "made in exact imitation of something valuable with the intention to deceive or defraud."
The test is if the product is identical to the original and if it is branded with a different company's name, product identification or logo.
OnePlus Buds are neither.
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Of course, but that is for a court to decide, not a random border patrol officer.
Apple has fought this battle many times, and lost the look-and-feel one with Microsoft and some of the iPhone design ones with Samsung.
Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. - Wikipedia
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I'm not sure what's better:
1. These companies (quite frankly all of them) ripping off Apple with so far no negative press or legal threats from Apple
2. CBP over-estimating what these piece of crap AirPod copies cost
3. Tim Hardwick writing "cock-up" which is the first time in the history of Mac rumors Cock has been in a story (please don't remove it)
1. These companies (quite frankly all of them) ripping off Apple with so far no negative press or legal threats from Apple
2. CBP over-estimating what these piece of crap AirPod copies cost
3. Tim Hardwick writing "cock-up" which is the first time in the history of Mac rumors Cock has been in a story (please don't remove it)
I respectfully disagree. Apple came up with a new general form factor for headphones which works well, so other companies are being inspired by it - this is good for the consumer. This happened many-many times in the past too, yet no one is complaining. Most cars out there look virtually identical, you'd have to check the logo on the front or back of the car to decide what it is. Many headphones in the past were just this round thing with padding, yet nobody got upset about it. What the real differentiator was, stood in the specs and the branding, which is the case here as well. It's not shameless copying. What's next? You'd want all fridge manufacturers to come up with a different design too?
