Liberty Times e-Newspaper, 2024/9/25
Apple Sues for Selling Counterfeit Earphones and Charging Cables; Two Women Ordered to Pay 304 Times in Damages
[Reporter Tsai Ching-Hua／Reporting from Kaohsiung] In 2020, two women from Kaohsiung publicly sold counterfeit Apple earphones and charging cables through Line groups and Facebook. The U.S.-based Apple Inc. noticed and filed a lawsuit from overseas. Using the average price of the counterfeit products seized, NT$1,450, multiplied by the 304 items confiscated, Apple was awarded NT$440,800 in damages. The decision can be appealed.
The court ruling stated that the defendant, Ms. Ko, along with Ms. Wei, posted counterfeit Apple earphones and charging cables for sale on Line groups and Facebook, making them available for purchase by the general public. The second and third generations of AirPods earphones (i.e., AirPods Pro) were sold at prices of NT$1,300 and NT$1,600 per set, respectively, and were subsequently sold to a woman surnamed Huang in April 2020.
The investigation revealed that the defendants began selling counterfeit trademarked products online starting from April 16, 2020, and continued doing so at least until July 17 of the same year. On September 16, the police, armed with a court-issued search warrant, searched the defendants’ residence and seized 304 counterfeit items.
Apple Inc. claimed that according to Article 69, Section 3, and Article 71, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Trademark Act, the average selling price of the seized counterfeit items was NT$1,450, multiplied by the total quantity of 304 items, resulting in a total claim of NT$440,800, to which the defendants agreed.
During the trial at the Kaohsiung District Court, the defendants did not dispute the plaintiff’s claim that the retail price for the counterfeit goods was calculated at NT$1,450. Considering that the plaintiff is a world-renowned company and that the selling period lasted for three months, the court deemed it appropriate to calculate the damages at 304 times the amount.
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