It seems Apple’s legal team managed to take some time out of suing Samsung to file a lawsuit against a New York City teenager who made $130,000 selling white iPhone 4 conversion kits before the device was launched.
Fei Lam recognized the demand for the white iPhone 4 and set up whiteiPhone4now.com to cash in on Apple’s continued delay of the device’s official release. Lam developed a secondhand relationship with someone at the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China, where many of Apple’s products are manufactured. This contact was able to supply Lam with white iPhone 4 parts which he sold on as conversion kits at up to $295 a piece to those who couldn’t wait any longer for the device, including Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Obviously Apple didn’t take too kindly to Lam’s newfound business and yesterday it filed a lawsuit in which it claims Lam engages in deceptive practices, according to MacRumors. Lam is claimed to have diluted and infringed Apple’s trademark – compromising its relationship with customers by causing confusion over whether there was an official release of the white iPhone 4.
Apple’s complaint reads:
Defendent Lam willfully and without authorization has used Apple’s trademarks in connection with the sale of his “White iPhone 4 Conversion Kits,” which among other things included white front and back panels with Apple’s logo and “iPhone” trademarks that are used in connection with the promotion and sale of Apple’s well known iPhone 4 handheld mobile digital electronic devices. Defendant at all times knew that Apple never has authorized the sale of white panels for its iPhone 4 mobile devices, and that he obtained these panels from sources that were not authorized by Apple or any of its suppliers to sell them.
The complaint also contains quotes taken from instant message conversation between Lam and Alan Yang – a business owner in China who was supplying Lam with his parts. These conversations revealed Yang was running into difficulties with shipping the parts as customs agents in Hong Kong became suspicious of trademark infringements.
It’s not just Lam himself named on the complaint, however – his parents are also on it, too. Apple believes they helped and encouraged Lam to set up his business, allowing him to engage in these activities while he was a minor under their supervision. However, it seems the lawsuit may have been over before it began.
At the same time as filing its complaint, Apple also filed a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit, which suggests a settlement between Apple and Lam has already been reached. It’s unclear what Apple may have obtained from the Lams as settlement, however, it has requested a permanent injunction preventing the Lams from any further sales, forfeiture of all profits from the sale of white iPhone parts, reimbursement for legal expenses, and additional financial retribution.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
31 responses to “Apple Sues Teen Who Sold Steve Wozniak His White iPhone 4”
How is this kid’s business different from ColorWare’s business?
Personally I think that Apple doesn’t care about getting anything from the kid other than for him to stop. And to get it into the legal books that what he did was wrong. So that if someone comes along and tries the same thing, or he tries it with another product, Apple has precedent to bring down the bam hammer.
Same as what they did by refusing to back off Psystar over Mac OS. They knew they would never get any money but what they really wanted was the legal backing for the future.
jerks!
jerks!
@Derek Martin – I took the liberty of reading the article for you – “Lam developed a secondhand relationship with someone at the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China, where many of Apple’s products are manufactured. This contact was able to supply Lam with white iPhone 4 parts which he sold on as conversion kits at up to $295 a piece”. I think colorware use their own parts.
So .. stopping someone from profiting from a criminal enterprise where they used your parts and sold them without your consent makes them jerks?
This sounds like a good result all around to me. The criminal guy gets off with a slap on the wrist, they probably had to pay all the money back to Apple and no one goes to jail. There are a lot of other criminals out there that should be as lucky as this kid.
stolen parts.
Serves him right. ‘Copyright Infringement’, for those who don’t know what it means, read it up. It might save you your underpants someday. LOL!
If this guy just took people’s existing iPhone and either painted it or modified it, there would have been no problem. This is all about diverting parts from Apple’s production line without Apple’s consent or knowledge. In other words…. theft.
Apple = Destruction soon to come. They cant just go around and sue everyone for everything.
Sue everyone for everything? What did Apple sue you for?
I don’t think Apple had any intentions of putting this kid behind bars. They just probably want him to stop. It’s not right in the first place and it messes up the owner’s warranty.
They don’t. They only proceed with ligation for those who violate the law in order to protect themselves and their customers. Common sense for must of us to understand.
All companies are obligated to their shareholders to rigorously defend their trademarks or lose them.
No reason to be snotty. The man is just trying to understand the issue.
Bang! Bang! Steve Job’s Applehammer
came down on poor Fei’s head.