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Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

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Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#51

Post by raverbashing »

Semaphor wrote: post #33

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?

I don't get it as well. Especially the "let's make it look like it has a wire but it hasn't" aspect (there might be some ergonomic aspect to it, but it definitely looks weird)

But to be fair I don't think that I'm in their market as I think it goes too far into the ear to be comfortable to me

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#52

Post by zachrose »

illustriousbear wrote: post #44
altacc wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Also sometimes stupidity and malice amplify each other.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#53

Post by Semaphor »

Someone wrote: post #46
Semaphor wrote: post #33

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?

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. Th…

Thanks, so it seems you need to have some kind long-ish antenna and I guess faking a cable was the best way to hide it.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#54

Post by Semaphor »

cranekam wrote: post #49
Semaphor wrote: post #33

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?

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.

For me, the fake cable makes them look dumb. But as Someone said, they seem to require a certain sized antenna. I couldn’t think of a better solution to hide one either.

Note that I never said they suck, I was pretty certain that the $200 something is not all just the Apple tax ;)

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#55

Post by Semaphor »

uranusjr wrote: post #38
Semaphor wrote: post #33

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?

I thought they look funny (although not ugly) when they first came out. But other designs (e.g. round blob sticking out of earholes) are even worse, and convinience outweighs visibility.

> But other designs (e.g. round blob sticking out of earholes) are even worse

Interesting, I always thought they look better simply because they don’t stand out as much.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#56

Post by sneak »

They also claimed that the lightning cables were fake, when they looked quite real:

https://twitter.com/sneakdotberlin/status/130491195246486732...

This is the same portion of the US government that runs the concentration camps in Texas (and has endlessly harassed me personally for exercising basic human rights), so I’m not that surprised that they remain dumb as rocks.

They also recently expelled 8800 unaccompanied children(!):

https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/about-8800-unaccompan...

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#57

Post by zymhan »

Semaphor wrote: post #33

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?

Anything is better than the fully in-ear design that makes up 90% of earbuds on the market.

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#58

Post by segfaultbuserr »

zorked wrote: post #24
MrStonedOne wrote: post #7

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 this older Sparkfun story. They had their multimeters seized for being yellow: https://www.sparkfun.com/news/1428

Trademarks are not limited to text, the gray and yellow color scheme is a Registered Trademark by Fluke [0]. Nowadays 2/3 of the cheap meters use this color scheme, at this stage this trademark is effectively dead, most people will not connect this color scheme to Fluke. I didn't even know it came from Fluke (neither did SparkFun I guess), until this incident.

But unless Apple registered something similar for shape or the color of the AirPods, or somehow patented its design, it's not an infringement, and the CBP cannot seize them.

Now the question is, how much does it cost to sue the CBP...

[0] https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75934005&caseType=SERIAL_...

Re: Feds seize ‘counterfeit Apple AirPods’ that are actually OnePlus Buds

#59

Post by timcederman »

Semaphor wrote: post #54
cranekam wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

For me, the fake cable makes them look dumb. But as Someone said, they seem to require a certain sized antenna. I couldn’t think of a better solution to hide one either. Note that I never said they suck, I was pretty certain that the $200 something is not all just the Apple tax ;)

You've twice mentioned a "fake cable" - what are you referring to?
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