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Apple Sued an Independent iPhone Repair Shop Owner and Lost (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the tough-luck dept.

Jason Koebler, reporting for Motherboard: Last year, Apple's lawyers sent Henrik Huseby, the owner of a small electronics repair shop in Norway, a letter demanding that he immediately stop using aftermarket iPhone screens at his repair business and that he pay the company a settlement. Norway's customs officials had seized a shipment of 63 iPhone 6 and 6S replacement screens on their way to Henrik's shop from Asia and alerted Apple; the company said they were counterfeit. Apple threatened to take action, unless Huseby provided the companies with copies of invoices, product lists, and a plethora of other things. The letter, sent by Frank Jorgensen, an attorney at the Njord law firm on behalf of Apple, included a settlement agreement that also notified him the screens would be destroyed. [...] Huseby decided to fight the case. Apple sued him. Local news outlets reported that Apple had five lawyers in the courtroom working on the case, but Huseby won. Apple has appealed the decision to a higher court; the court has not yet decided whether to accept the appeal.

7 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. Good by bracktra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple, if you want the general public to care about "counterfeit" parts, make your production operations completely domestic.

    Don't sue the little guy for your IP leakage problems in China. He's just trying to make a living, and there's no reason you should control the repair market.

    1. Re:Good by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Apple, if you want the general public to care about "counterfeit" parts, make your production operations completely domestic.

      Don't sue the little guy for your IP leakage problems in China. He's just trying to make a living, and there's no reason you should control the repair market.

      Depends.

      Was he an authorized Apple Repair Center, and using aftermarket parts to do WARRANTY Repairs?

      If so, then Apple has a point. If not, I would agree with the Court's decision.

    2. Re:Good by Freischutz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Apple, if you want the general public to care about "counterfeit" parts, make your production operations completely domestic.

      Don't sue the little guy for your IP leakage problems in China. He's just trying to make a living, and there's no reason you should control the repair market.

      Depends.

      Was he an authorized Apple Repair Center, and using aftermarket parts to do WARRANTY Repairs?

      If so, then Apple has a point. If not, I would agree with the Court's decision.

      Another thing to consider is that not all spare parts are created equal. Neither neither Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, HTC or any other device manufacturer is under any kind of obligation to test their software updates with every single kind of 3rd party spares on the market you might decide to use to repair your phone with. I generally prefer to get my gizmos repaired with OEM parts at a certified repair shop even if it cost more, simply because there is always the chance that some random 3rd party spare installed by some independent workshop may be the cause of the device being bricked by a software update because of some kind of hardware incompatibility, failure of the 3rd party parts manufacturer to correctly implement a standard or because the part was simply a piece of crap and broke. The last thing I need is to end up with with a bricked phone that costs in excess of 700 dollars to replace. If this guy is using 3rd party spares, and you run the risk of a software update bricking your device, he should also make his customers aware of that eventuality. If the customers are then willing to take the risk that's their decision, but then they should also not moan about it if the misfortune fairy turns their precious into a brick.

  2. Re:what's the problem? by sinij · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why be happy that they won this case?

    Because Apple outsources manufacturing to China. They deserve all the consequences and cheap knock-offs.

  3. Re:what's the problem? by nedlohs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is there a single statement there that you didn't just make up?

  4. Re:Counterfeit screen? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In reality, fake parts are often run off on the exact same assembly lines, usually in 3rd world countries, but using inferior metal and material.

    These can fail, which have in the case of jet engine parts.

    Big companies include in their contracts that this shall not be done with their assembly lines, and often track fakes by real part number for sale on the Internet.

    Is a cheaper screen not UL? Or is the issue him pretending it is an Apple one? What about the claim, "It is just as good!"

    Most will side with him, though ironically will change position with something like Uber driving. Huh.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  5. Apple's demons by MobyDisk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Tim Cook talks about how he supports his users by not selling their information, by supporting strong encryption, and by standing up to the government. Whenever I hear him talk about this, I pause and almost consider buying an Apple product. But then things like this happen, and I am reminded that Apple provides a walled-garden store, fights interoperability, and uses the intellectual-property stick to harm their own customers. Tim Cook can claim a clean conscience on some fronts, but is downright evil on others. There is hope for Apple, but there is much that needs to change.