U.S. Government Sues Two Companies for falsely using Apple & Samsung Trademarks on Products
For a moment I thought I was living the movie Groundhog Day, where I was doomed to report on the same legal case over and over again until it was done right. In February of this year a civil action was launched by the U.S government through Edward L. Stanton III, United States Attorney, and Christopher E. Cotten, Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, against three company owners for being in possession of products that falsely carried Apple and Samsung trademarks. The filing specified the forfeiture (commonly known as seizure) of specific property listed. Last Thursday a new civil action was filed by Edward L. Stanton III, United States Attorney, and Christopher E. Cotten, Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, against two company owners for being in possession of products that falsely carried Apple and Samsung trademarks.
This time around the property was seized from "Mr. Mike", LM Wireless; "Mr. Rizwan", Al Shams Trading on September 16 to November 22, 2014 in Memphis, Tennessee and is presently in the custody of the United States Customs and Border Protection in Memphis, Tennessee:
a. 3,760 Counterfeit Samsung Cell Phone Batteries;
b. 3,000 Counterfeit Samsung Mobile Phone Headsets;
c. 223 Data Cables; and
d. 1,000 Counterfeit Apple Earphones.
With Edward L. Stanton III, United States Attorney, and Christopher E. Cotten, Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee being aggressive back in February hunting down and suing companies for falsely using Apple and Samsung trademarks, you'd think that similar companies participating in such activities would move to another state to avoid the same fate. But oh no, criminals 'Dumb and Dumber' thought that they'd get away with it. It's so stupid that I'd understand if you thought for a second that I made this whole story up just for laughs. Well, the laughs are for free, but the story is true.
Below is copy of the complaint filed before the court dated 10/20/2016
USA v Assorted Electronic Equipment - Verified Complaint of Forfeiture by Jack Purcher on Scribd
The case was filed in the Tennessee Western District Court, Memphis Office on Oct 20, 2016. The Presiding Judge in this case is noted as being Judge Phipps McCalla.
On Tuesday Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Sues Mobile Star for Selling Counterfeit Power Adapters and Charging Cables through Amazon."
With the two cases practically being about the same thing, it's pretty clear that it's buyer beware when it comes to buying Apple accessory products beyond an official Apple Store.
About Comments: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.
Comments