Apple fires lawsuit at New York counterfeit stores

United States

Apple has filed suit against several New York retailers after they were caught selling fake Apple products out of stores in Flushing, New York.

The lawsuit, which has been filed in New York District Court, accuses Janice Po Chiang and 50 other unnamed retailers of selling counterfeit Apple products from stores called Apple Story and Fun Zone.

"Apple representatives visited...Apple Story and Fun Zone stores on multiple occasions over several weeks and purchased an assortment of cases and stereo headsets bearing one or more of the Apple trademarks, but which are not made or authorised by Apple," the filing said.

The cases include the Apple logo and iPhone mark and the phrase "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China."

Apple said the packaging used in the Flushing stores is "nearly an exact duplicate of genuine Apple packaging and appears to be a colour copy of a genuine box, which has resulted in some minor differences in the box that an average purchaser would not notice."

The lawsuit said Apple was "extremely concerned about the irreparable harm that is being caused, and will continue to be caused" by selling fake products and using the Apple Story name. The products will cause confusion, and Apple strongly believes that Chiang and the other defendants were well aware that they were selling fake Apple products.

Apple's lawsuit requests the court to ban the stores from using Apple's logos and marks, including the Apple Story name. The Cupertino, California-based company also wants all the fake products to be handed over, at which time they will be destroyed.

Earlier this month, officials in the south western Chinese city of Kunming forced 22 fake Apple Stores to stop using the company's trademark after receiving a complaint from Apple.