“Authorities in China’s southwestern city of Kunming have identified another 22 unauthorised Apple retailers weeks after a fake of the company’s store in the city sparked an international storm,” Michael Martina reports for Reuters.
“China’s Administration for Industry and Commerce in the Yunnan provincial capital said the stores have been ordered to stop using Apple’s logo after Apple China accused them of unfair competition and violating its registered trademark, state media said on Thursday,” Martina reports. “The market watchdog agency said it would set up a complaint hotline and boost monitoring, the official Xinhua news agency reported.”
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Martina reports, “In May, China was listed for the seventh year by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office as a country with one of the worst records for preventing copyright theft.”
Read more in the full article here.
Krooks in Kunming are Kunning.
Here is what I am curious about: They say these stores are selling genuine Apple products. If so, where the hell are they getting them? Is this stuff semi-legally acquired on the gray market, or is it merchandise that “fell off the back of somebody’s truck”?
It’s gray market stuff and it’s being sold at a higher price than the few Apple stores there sell it for.
Apple just made deals with more than one company to put up third party stores all over China. Getting rid of the fakes may be part of the contracts.
How many fake Android or Samsung stores did they find?
The big question is..How many fake M$ stores did they find, or will they find??
There are more fake Apple Stores than there are real MS stores.
Lol!! 😀
I consider all M$ stores to be fake. In my opinion they are as bad as the Chinese copycat stores. I think it is pretty clear that M$ copied as much of the Apple look as possible without actually placing an Apple logo over their door.
Except that isn’t “copyright” theft. It is an unauthorized use of trademark.
Copyright covers content – trademark is a logo or other trade dress that “marks” a company uniquely to its customers.
Idiot reporters should think before writing.
“Idiot reporters should think before writing.”
That’ll be the day!
Kommies!
What are kommies? The fake Chinese knockoff version of commies?
Fake M$ stores found:
ZERO!
Apple just got a free feasability study validating the opening of more Chinese Apple stores.
Really? The authorities are closing them? I don’t really think so. Maybe like this Disney clone, they will close of their own accord. http://www.japanprobe.com/2007/05/02/disneyland-in-china/
I agree.
They found the fake Microsoft store in the center of Kunming. It’s called ‘Kunming’s Krusty the Klown’s Stroe’ run by a fat bald man who had the penchant for throwing chairs at pedestrians walking outside the store in an attempt to tempt them in.
Is that what $76 million in cash buys, China’s begrudging enforcement of IP laws?
send the fake steve jobs…
I think to prevent this from happening again, Apple should find out where the copycats are getting their inventory, put them out, then take care of these people with no lives.
It would be a good idea to find out the source of it’s inventory to prevent expansion then when they can no longer grow, kill the existing one at a time.
I find it laughable that they’re only now “FINDING” these stores. A more likely story is that they’re embarrassed for being caught red-handed and the government is now using Apple’s name as an international podium to “rah rah” over how they’re good at stopping copycat stores.
I find the fake stores incredibly amusing. I know it’s serious and all that, and Apple has to enforce their trademark, but being so popular that even their stores are counterfeited – that’s just really funny.
It is hoped that Apple can get plenty of genuine stores opened there.
There’s 22… in ONE city?! Wow.
The potential growth for Apple in China seems unlimited.
NEWS FLASH! They just found 12 “Faux Apple Stores” in USA! Huh? What? Those are Microsoft Stores…What The Huh?
If there are 22 MORE in ONE city, how many are there in all of China? Thousands?
PS. What’s the problem as long as they sell genuine Apple products? Once Apple builds real stores, buyers will prefer them.