31–40 of 291 posts
What if they're counterfeit OnePlus products and somehow the message to be released to the public was lost in a 'telephone' game? Brand name dilution can cause some less tech-astute folks to refer to earbuds by the popular AirPods brand name. And given the visual similarity it's easy to see how this kinda thing could cascade from a miscommunication like that. That said it's also pretty believable that CBP thought the…
The legal definition of counterfeit product (as realized by CBP's jurisdiction) boils down to: Bares a Registered Trademark and does not have a signed letter of authenticity by the trademark holder authorizing its import. That is super broad and covers a lot of things most people would think to be false positives like legit items sold second hand. But even that doesn't cover thinking OnePlus Buds are AirPods.
There's more than just trademark. I used to work with some attorneys formerly at the US International Trade Commission. From what they told me, most goods that they had seized at the border were caught in "design patent" cases. It was interesting to me how prominent that area of law was in practice, given that we never covered it in my IP classes.
I was also surprised that was a big thing initially, especially when you know where a lot of designs were inspired from. :)
https://www.fastcompany.com/3016910/apples-inspiration-for-t...
https://www.cnet.com/news/time-is-money-apple-pays-21m-for-c...
Sidebar: Why has the AirPod design become so ubiquitous? I always thought they were the ugliest earbuds since earbuds became small. Is there some technical reason they have this design? Or do people actually like it? Or is it simply the Apple effect?
If Apple says it looks good, then people believe it looks good.
What if they're counterfeit OnePlus products and somehow the message to be released to the public was lost in a 'telephone' game? Brand name dilution can cause some less tech-astute folks to refer to earbuds by the popular AirPods brand name. And given the visual similarity it's easy to see how this kinda thing could cascade from a miscommunication like that. That said it's also pretty believable that CBP thought the…
The CBP tweet says they're seizing them for not being Apple.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
given that USITC is a U.S. Agency, and this is a Canadian Seizure, but also GlobalFoundries vs TSMC dispute is resolved "dismissing all litigation between them as well as those that involve any of their customers", this doesn't seem likely to be the cause.
CBP is Customs and Border Protection (part of the US federal government). CBSA is Canada Border Services Agency which is the Canadian border patrol. There is no mention of Canada in the article
Sidebar: Why has the AirPod design become so ubiquitous? I always thought they were the ugliest earbuds since earbuds became small. Is there some technical reason they have this design? Or do people actually like it? Or is it simply the Apple effect?
Apple is a design authority. If Apple says it looks good, then people believe it looks good.
Sidebar: Why has the AirPod design become so ubiquitous? I always thought they were the ugliest earbuds since earbuds became small. Is there some technical reason they have this design? Or do people actually like it? Or is it simply the Apple effect?
The products here may be considered legally counterfeit for one or more reasons other than simply using the word mark APPLE. For example: (1) trademark or trade dress infringement if the product's decorative features (color, etc.) or packaging copies a registered trademark of Apple, (2) copyright infringement if the product contains copied Apple code without a license,(3) patent infringement if the product implements…
Sidebar: Why has the AirPod design become so ubiquitous? I always thought they were the ugliest earbuds since earbuds became small. Is there some technical reason they have this design? Or do people actually like it? Or is it simply the Apple effect?
To generalise massively, the ones with the AirPod-like stalks do tend to have better voice quality for transmission (ie, I sound better) on calls.