Perhaps this is linked to the China and US trade war?
Maybe US customs have been instructed to be harsher on Chinese company imports?
Not saying it is necessarily unethical considering that China is no doubt doing similar.
Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
41–50 of 291 posts
Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
#42Sidebar: 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?
They always make me think of Ben Stiller answering the door in a certain movie.
Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
#43Perhaps this is linked to the China and US trade war? Maybe US customs have been instructed to be harsher on Chinese company imports? Not saying it is necessarily unethical considering that China is no doubt doing similar.
I'd be more tempted to apply Hanlon's razor: Don't attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.
Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
#44Perhaps this is linked to the China and US trade war? Maybe US customs have been instructed to be harsher on Chinese company imports? Not saying it is necessarily unethical considering that China is no doubt doing similar.
I'd be more tempted to apply Hanlon's razor: Don't attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.
Thats fair, it just crossed my mind as a possibility given the current climate.
Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
#45Maybe not counterfeit, but you still can’t argue this design is stolen pretty much straight from Apple.
Right, just like how the iPhone design is stolen straight from the pocket PC. /s Apple doesn't own a product type just by using it.
You think it's funny (the sarcasm), but Apple does go to court arging "look and feel" is copyrightable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_and_feel
Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
#46Sidebar: 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?
I guess having the “stick” on it has to do with antenna quality.
https://www.bluflux.com/bluetooth-antenna-design-guide-step-...: “So 31mm is the desired length of a Bluetooth antenna without “dielectric loading” (see next section)”
https://www.instructables.com/id/Increase-and-extend-the-ran...: “As Bluetooth devices work at frequencies of around 2450MHz, the formula will give you an antenna length of +/- 12cm. This figure then has to be divided by 4 to give us a quarter wave antenna, which will be 30mm in length”
AirPods are 40.5mm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPods), so I guess they have such a 30-ish mm antenna (edit: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPods+Teardown/75578 agrees: “That hanging boom is for more than just balance—it's also to improve reception.“)
Chances are hanging the antenna (a tiny bit) away from the bag of water called “skull” also helps reception quality. It also provides an easy handle to take them out of your ears.
Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple is a design authority. If Apple says it looks good, then people believe it looks good.
People believe it looks expensive.
They are expensive - for a pair of wireless ear buds.
Putting aside all subjective qualities. People know they are expensive and regardless of whether you agree w/ the decision, you know they cost $195, $249 or whatever.
That's a signal of wealth like certain clothing, a super car, or a bloomberg terminal.
Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
#48Sidebar: 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?
Alternative designs come with their own problems or ugliness.
The ones that look like buttons give me the impression that it's a medical device and are simply too pronounced. I assume they are that beefy because they need to house the battery in the "head" but the "head and stick" design can have more elegant head since the battery is in the stick part. Since Apple was the first to have that design, they now pretty much own it.
I also suspect that the microphones work better with the head&stick design since the orientation of the mic and the proximity to the mouth is better.
Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
#49Sidebar: 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?
What in particular makes them ugly for you? I have a pair of second generation AirPods and find them neither ugly nor particularly beautiful. I like them because they work really well. They sound good, they’re compact, and the integration with my phone/laptop is close to seamless. My wife has some other wireless earphones and they’re much worse: bulky, heavy, and always causing some kind of pairing hassle.
Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds
#50The 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…
https://www.stopfakes.gov/article?id=U-S-Customs-and-Border-...
From what I understand, CBP doesn't confiscate counterfeits on the basis of design patents unless a specific complaint has been made by the patent holder to the ITC. So it seems unlikely to me that this seizure is design patent related and it's likely this seizure is in error.