Apple has sued a major Amazon supplier, claiming over 90 per cent of the accessories sold by Mobile Star are counterfeit.
Although the lawsuit is not against Amazon itself, the retail giant is implicated because it fulfills the orders on behalf of the supplier.
The case, spotted by Patently Apple this week, says: “Over the last nine months, Apple, as part of its ongoing brand protection efforts, has purchased well over 100 iPhone devices, Apple power products, and Lightning cables sold as genuine by sellers on Amazon.com and delivered through Amazon’s ‘Fulfillment by Amazon’ program.
“Apple’s internal examination and testing for these products revealed almost 90% of these products are counterfeit.”
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Apple even cited Amazon reviews from customers whose chargers caught fire, in its legal filing.
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Amazon responded by claiming it had ‘zero tolerance’ for fake products on its site.
It told the BBC: “We work closely with manufacturers and brands and pursue wrongdoers aggressively.”
If Apple succeeds in getting these accessories removed from stores like Amazon, it stands to make more money from selling officially manufactured or licensed cables.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.