Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/08/06/apple_sues_nyc_chinatown_stores/
Apple sues NYC mom & pop shops
Mystery trouble in little China
Posted in Legal, 6th August 2011 00:03 GMT
Apple has filed suit against a number of retail stores in the Chinatown district of Queens, New York, proving that Jobs & Co doesn't only flex its legal muscle against heavy hitters such as HTC, Amazon, and Samsung.
According to a Reuters report, the consumer-electronics giant was granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Apple Story and Fun Zone – neither of which have even a web presence – along with defendants Janice Po Chiang, Jimmy Kwok, 50 John Does, and unnamed and uncounted "XYZ Businesses".
Little is known of the details of the complaint – other than that it's for trademark infringement – due to the fact that although it was filed on July 25 and made public this Tuesday, Judge Kiyo Matsumoto of the US District Court, Eastern District of New York, in consultation with plaintiff's and defendants' counsel, has ordered "that all documents remain under seal with access only to counsel for the parties and the court," according to the court docket.
How perfectly Cupertinian.
The court docket also notes that on July 25, Matsumoto authorized a goods-grabbing ex parte seizure, presumably aimed at the allegedly trademark-infringing items.
To summarize what is likely to happen to Apple Story, Fun Zone, et al., we could do no better than Reuters' opinion: "Apple has not said what it plans to do about the fake stores, but the consumer device giant has historically taken intellectual-property infringement very seriously, and acts swiftly to protect its secrets." ®