Apple sues makers of inferior quality accessories
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According to Kaufman Brothers analyst Shawn Wu, Apple currently has a program that gives accessory makers a license to manufacture official products in exchange for a 20% to 25% royalty from each sale. The lawsuit claims that at least 10 firms are infringing on Apple patents while trademarks are being violated. Mark Kesslen is chairman of the intellectual property group at New York-based law firm Lowenstein Sandler PC. He has represented companies that applied for a license with Apple to sell officially authorized accessories. Kesslen said, "They are trying to control all aspects of their devices,” he said, "They are using the various licensing agreements, partner agreements and brand management to make sure that it stays within their high standard."
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on July 22nd and names 6 defendants in California and 1 in Washington. Apple says it could name 20 more companies that made the unlicensed products. However, as Mr. Kesslen points out, when keeping control over your products or acting in an anti-competitive manner, "There is a very fine line," he says,"You have to be very careful."
source: Bloomberg via AppleInsider
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10 Comments
1. trentsinmypants posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:47 0 0
Wow...a 20-25% royalty fee per unit sold? Apple sure knows how to rake in the monies...... Since most of the 3rd party accessories come from China, how is Apple going to sue them? I thought US patents were only valid in, well, the US. Am I wrong?
7. DonkeyPunched posted on 02 Aug 2010, 16:18 0 0
.... ......... ............ .......Trent is my name (too)......... :]
2. alex_a posted on 02 Aug 2010, 13:40 0 0
Every day I read about Apple and iPhone, I want to buy it (iPhone) less and less. I won't give up my MB Pro, but iPhone is not my next phone.
3. narley posted on 02 Aug 2010, 15:22 0 0
Maybe apple should look inward regarding inferior products before they jump on others.... Pricks.
9. lovebuzz posted on 02 Aug 2010, 16:50 0 0
Lol love your comment narley. I think they're still stuck on trying to distract from their own problems. I wish someone in their company would wake up and realize how pathetic and cheapened they are selling themselves. It's really a joke, since none of this would ever have been as big of a deal if they had just been honest with their consumers. I would think that they would want to treat their customers with as high standards as they pretend to hold their products too.. I think they want to give customers the death grip as well :). Have they not heard of just a simple We're Sorry?? Goes to show how inflated their heads are. I bet their corp headquarters smells like farts.
10. JeffdaBeat posted on 02 Aug 2010, 22:57 0 0
I don't know about that. This has been a problem for years when people try buying an aftermarket charger and it literally frying their devices after one charge. Not just Apple products, but all kinds of laptop, MP3, and cellphone chargers. These chargers/accessories have been screwing folks over for years and costing consumers a ton of cash. I'm with Apple on this. I wish there was some standard...
4. htc_prep posted on 02 Aug 2010, 15:28 0 0
Instead of suing the little guys why not sue your antenna engineers?
5. zerglisk posted on 02 Aug 2010, 16:01 0 0
Before suing more ppl, at least get your antenna issue solved first..
6. Vegas89 posted on 02 Aug 2010, 16:07 0 0
Wooohooo another apple is suing somebody article. Boring, wake me when apple does something different, like say admit to they're own F ups for once....Zzzzzzzzz
