Two computer stores in New York that have reportedly been selling fake Apple products have agreed to a deal which will see them hand over any fake goods to the Cupertino company.
The proposal was submitted to a federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday and concerned two stores in Queens – Apple Story and FunZone.
Once the agreement has been approved by the court, the stores will have five days to hand over all the fake goods.
The deal stipulates that “the parties shall work together to identify the documents and things to deliver,” so the image of Apple employees digging through the stores’ dark and dusty stockrooms with flashlights in hand may not be too far-fetched.
According to the computer giant’s original court filing on the matter last month, representatives from Apple went along to Apple Story and Fun Zone on more than one occasion and bought a variety of fake Apple items. These included iPhone cases and headsets bearing the Apple logo. Apple prohibits the selling of unauthorized items, such as cases, that show the Apple logo.
Several of the items even had “Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China” printed on them – words which are found on many genuine Apple products. Apple also pointed out that the packaging of some of the items in the stores was almost identical to the packaging of genuine Apple products.
The original trademark infringement filing targeting stores like Apple Story and FunZone was made by Apple in a New York court last month. this came at around the same time that fake Apple Stores in China were also being brought to the company’s attention. And when we say fake Apple Store, we mean the entire store was fake. The stores, many of which have since been ordered to close by Chinese officials, had been so carefully designed that many consumers thought they’d been shopping in one of Apple’s genuine outlets. It was even reported that some of the employees believed they were working for the computer giant.
[via PCMag/Cnet] [Image courtesy of Greg Autry via BirdAbroad]
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