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Luxpro Sues Apple for Damages and 'Power Abuse'

Posted by Zonk on from the not-sure-they-would-have-made-a-hundred-million dept.

Dystopian Rebel writes "The Financial Times reports that Taiwanese company Luxpro (discussed on Slashdot last year) intends to sue Apple for US$100M for 'lost revenue caused by Apple's abuse of their global power.' In 2005, Apple obtained an injunction against Luxpro's Super Shuffle/Super Tangent but the Taiwanese Supreme Court has overturned the injunction, opening the door to Luxpro's legal action. From the article: 'The [Luxpro] product had almost the same measurements and weight, came in a white plastic casing and had similar buttons on the front. Its name, Super Shuffle, also closely resembled the original.'"

4 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Just don't call it innovation by rlp · · Score: 4, Funny

    Taiwanese companies aren't allowed to copy Apple designs, only Microsoft is allowed to do that.

    --
    [Insert pithy quote here]
  2. Re:Gimme a break by Thansal · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Image

    Taken directly from their website, it apears that they are flat out stating "YES, WE RIPPED OFF APPLE COME BUY FROM US!"

    --
    Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
  3. Not abuse of power by necro81 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just about anyone who looks at the two devices side by side will acknowledge that the Luxpro product is a clear knockoff of the original. Since that is the case, Apple was justified in seeking the injunction - it was not an abuse of power.

    The injunction was granted but later overturned. FTFA:
    Luxpro appealed and won subsequent lawsuits in the Taiwan High Court and the Taiwan Supreme Court. Last month, the Shihlin District Court lifted the original injunction, saying that "the appearances of the two products are significantly dissimilar".

    Now, I don't actually think they are all that dissimilar, but that's only tangentially related to this countersuit. Apple's original suit, seeking the injunction, was not a frivolous move by a monopolistic juggernaut - just a company defending its interests. Apple's shareholders could have sued if Apple hand't sought the injunction.

    Had Luxpro's device pre-dated Apple's, or if the two devices really were dissimilar, that would be another thing.

    1. Re:Not abuse of power by belmolis · · Score: 3, Informative

      Luxpro seems to have three models. The two higher-end ones are quite different from the Apple model due to their displays. The low-end one is much more similar but is nonetheless readily distinguishible from the Apple model due to the prominent Luxpro logo. Insofar as they are not infringing any Apple patents or copyrights and there is no way a reasonable consumer could confuse the two products, Apple has no case.