Mike Peterson
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Monday defended its seizure of 2,000 pairs of OnePlus Buds, claiming that they violate Apple's trademarks for AirPods.
Earlier in the day, the agency claimed to have intercepted 2,000 counterfeit AirPods units. In its announcement, the CBP was seemingly unaware that it had, in fact, seized legitimate OnePlus Buds and not knockoff AirPods.
Hours later, in a statement to The Verge, a CBP spokesperson said that the agency had not made a mistake by intercepting the legitimate product.
"Upon examining the shipment in question, a CBP import specialist determined that the subject earbuds appeared to violate Apple's configuration trademark. Apple has configuration trademarks on their brand of earbuds, and has recorded those trademarks with CBP," the spokesperson said. Configuration trademarks cover the general appearance of a product, if you were wondering. "Based on that determination, CBP officers at JFK Airport have seized the shipment under 19 USC 1526 (e)."
Additionally, the agency added that its seizure of the earbuds was "unrelated to the images or language on the box," adding that "a company does not have to put an 'Apple' wordmark or design on their products to violate these trademarks."
The CBP spokesperson concluded by saying that the importer "will have many opportunities through the adjudication process to provide evidence that their product does not violate the relevant recorded trademarks."
A source within Apple corporate not authorized to speak on behalf of the company told AppleInsider that the company has nothing to do with the seizure.
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Wesley Hilliard
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25 Comments
It's a shame they had to make another statement to state the obvious.
They are digging a bigger hole for themselves.
They claimed they were counterfeit Apple products.
They clearly aren't. Not in packaging or content.
This is so funny...if only they did this for every shameless shoddy Apple knock-off product.
The Apple-haters and iKnockoff supporters are having a field day with this on the Twitterverse. I actually support what the CBP did. They are knockoffs. It's similar to the whining going on with the Samdroids when Samsung stole the design (and icons) of the iPhone when it first came out. Of all the design possibilities one could do, OnePlus decides to copy Apple's design? Like Samsung, OnePlus did it for one reason only. It could pass off as an Apple product from a distance, and they can ride Apple's coattails.