Followers

Friday, October 17, 2008

iPod Knockoff Maker Hires Knockoff Lawyers, Files Monopoly Suit Against Apple

By John Herrman

Apparently emboldened by a minor, years-old success against Apple's lawyers in Taiwan, iPod knockoff manufacturer Luxpro has decided to sue Apple, claiming that the company has monopolized the MP3 player market with a variety of unfair "schemes." Some of their arguments are somewhat compelling, namely when they bring up Apple's attempt to countersue Creative after their initial interface infringement suit, a move which notably backfired.

But accusations of monopoly sound a little hollow coming from a company that last made headlines for narrowly escaping a copyright trademark suit filed by Apple to cease the sale of Luxpro's Super Shuffle iPod shuffle knockoff. The suit resulted in a changed name for the player and a massive, failed countersuit by Luxpro. Even more significant here is that Luxpro's latest suit has been filed in an Arkansas court, which I'm guessing will be a little less lenient when it comes to Luxpro's obvious imitation products.

Whether they'll take Luxpro's monopoly accusations seriously remains to be seen, but the filing makes it clear that Luxpro is after money, and lots of it. [MacNN]

Original here

No comments: