Luxpro seeks $100m in damages from Apple over iPod shuffle knockoff

[AppleInsider]

Luxpro Technology, a digital media player manufacturer which successfully defended a lawsuit from Apple Computer over an imitation iPod shuffle, said Wednesday it now plans to countersue the iPod maker for $100 million in damages.

In March of 2005, the Taiwanese company created quite the ruckus when it began showing off a near carbon copy of Apple's first-generation iPod shuffle during the CeBIT technology show.

Luxpro originally called the player the "Super Shuffle" but upon making the device available for sale changed the name to "Super Tanget." Nevertheless, it was nearly identical to Apple's original flash-based player in size, shape, color and weight.

The abridged version of the ensuing story is that Apple filed suit four months later in a Shihlin District Court. The court ruled in Apple's favor, granting an injunction that barred Luxpro from selling the iPod knockoff.

Luxpro then appealed to a Taiwan High Court which reversed the decision. The tennis match ensued, with Apple filing its own appeal to the Taiwan Supreme Court. Apple lost that round as well, and the original inunction was eventually lifted.

"Taiwan has a very sophisticated electronics technology, and we can't just let a multinational corporation take advantage of its market force to put down Taiwan's industry at its will," said Luxpro Chairman Wu Fu-Ching.



The Taiwanese company now says it plans to file a $100 million compensation suit, which seeks damages from Apple's "continued and illegitimate provisional disposition motion" that prevent sale of its products over the last 18 months.

A full copy of Luxpro's press release on the matter -- title "David vs. Goliath: Apple Computer Inc. Loses Lawsuit, Luxpro Technology Files US$100 Million Compensation Claim" -- can be seen in its entirety, below.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[SpamSandwich]

What the hell? There must be some high-level corruption in Taiwan. Bury these scumbags, Apple.

[Ireland]

100 million digs more like!

[bdkennedy1]

So Taiwan is able to just ignore copyrights? If I were Apple I'd pull everything out of that country.

[Caribou Killa]

This is pretty damn ridiculous... The fact anyone even thought of selling that tangent crap to begin with is crazy. Its the same thing. They didn't even try to change anything other than the buttons. The fact the higher courts let them get away with this is just stupid.

[kresh]

Originally Posted by bdkennedy1

So Taiwan is able to just ignore copyrights? If I were Apple I'd pull everything out of that country.

Yeah this damn illegitimate, break-away, province of China gets a lot of support from the West and this is the way their government responds.

Ignore international trademarks and copyrights. Maybe they will get in line when the mainland takes them back over.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by bdkennedy1

So Taiwan is able to just ignore copyrights? If I were Apple I'd pull everything out of that country.

I second that.

[Rolo]

Talk about chutzpah! Apple should threaten to cease all manufacturing ops in Taiwan if these fools can't recognize international copyrights. Beyond absurd, these creeps.

[Mr.Scott]

Knowing that these piss-ants are a thorn in Apple's side and Apple has a "mighty hammer" I say.... CRUSH THESE LITTLE *BLEEPS*

No holding back.

[FireEmblemPride]

Yeah, this is quite baffling. But the political comments are quite uncalled for.

[jp_flashman]

What a rip off!

nah i wouldn't pull apples business out of taiwan, that wouldn't hurt luxpro. What they should do is make sure luxpro is barred from selling it in western countries, hurting taiwans and luxpro's export sales!

if they don't wanna play nice cut them off.

[icfireball]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

What the hell?

Those were my EXACT first thoughts.

[JCE10]

So you guys automatically assume the all-mighty Luxpro represents the entire population of Taiwan and its disregard for intellectual property? Give me a break.

If you visit Taiwanese discussion forums, you'll see plenty of iPod fans disgusted over this entire deal.

Plus, just because Luxpro countersues, doesn't mean it'll win.

[TheMadHermit]

If I were going to guess... And I am, then I would guess that Apple did not file a PATENT properly for the Shuffle. I would bet that they lost on a technicality. And let's please be more judicious in our slinging of words such as "patent" and 'copywrite'.

And Spammy, I would have expected better from you. We, the good denizens of the web do NOT bury those with whom we disagree... We subscribe them to 800 porn listserves and we call it a day. >;-D

<launches a catapult full of needles at SpamSandwich, while wheedling in the background>

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by JCE10

So you guys automatically assume the all-mighty Luxpro represents the entire population of Taiwan and its disregard for intellectual property? Give me a break.

If you visit Taiwanese discussion forums, you'll see plenty of iPod fans disgusted over this entire deal.

Plus, just because Luxpro countersues, doesn't mean it'll win.

No, we are assuming that the ruling in favor of Luxpro was such a blatant injustice that the the Taiwanese government must be excessively corrupt. No matter how the pure the hearts of it's populace, a company can only function as well as the law allows it to.

[TheMadHermit]

Originally Posted by JCE10

So you guys automatically assume the all-mighty Luxpro represents the entire population of Taiwan and its disregard for intellectual property? Give me a break.

If you visit Taiwanese discussion forums, you'll see plenty of iPod fans disgusted over this entire deal.

Plus, just because Luxpro countersues, doesn't mean it'll win.

And the counter-suit aught to be filed in Cupertino. And can't you file a counter suit at the same time as you are recieving a counter-suit? Any lawyers in the house?

TMH

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by TheMadHermit

And let's please be more judicious in our slinging of words such as "patent" and 'copywrite'.

The correct term is copyright, though I was surprised to see that your term has gained some status of validity when referring to written works.

[TheMadHermit]

Originally Posted by solipsism

The correct term is copyright, though I was surprised to see that your term has gained some status of validity when referring to written works.

Oops! You're 100% correct on that. The "right to copy". My bad. But lets tack 'International' on to the list as well, just for shits and giggles! This is what happens when you post from a PocketPC, yah? More typos than Q has explosive watches! Thank you for the correction.

TMH

EDIT
Oh yes, and note my inconsistent use of single and double quotes. But that's from the madness, so we'll leave them alone.

[freeny]

absorootrey frivorus!

[TheMadHermit]

Originally Posted by freeny

absorootrey frivorus!

hmmm... now here we are presented with a very trickey statement. Clearly, this is making fun of Asian dificulties in separating 'L' and 'R' in spoken English.... my first impulse is to take it as a racist comment, but damn if I'm not guilty of the same thing every time I get one of the Japanese transfer students in my Japanese class to try to say "Squirel". Am I a bastard, or is context a valid consideration?

What does the Peanut Gallery say?

TMH

[wtfk]

....legally speaking....

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by TheMadHermit

hmmm... now here we are presented with a very trickey statement. Clearly, this is making fun of Asian dificulties in separating 'L' and 'R' in spoken English.... my first impulse is to take it as a racist comment, but damn if I'm not guilty of the same thing every time I get one of the Japanese transfer students in my Japanese class to try to say "Squirel". Am I a bastard, or is context a valid consideration?

What does the Peanut Gallery say?

TMH

Thanks for pointing it out. I didn't even notice when I read it. haha

The inability to separate Ls and Rs is not a genetic one, but a culture one based on early age formations of linguistic constructs. Now, is this really a "racist" statement?

[aplnub]

We need to send AirWolf over to Asia and then drop off Mr. T while we are at it. Let them clean house for a while.

[freeny]

Originally Posted by TheMadHermit

hmmm... now here we are presented with a very trickey statement. Clearly, this is making fun of Asian dificulties in separating 'L' and 'R' in spoken English.... my first impulse is to take it as a racist comment, but damn if I'm not guilty of the same thing every time I get one of the Japanese transfer students in my Japanese class to try to say "Squirel". Am I a bastard, or is context a valid consideration?

What does the Peanut Gallery say?

TMH

Although I see how this could be taken as a racist comment, I in no way meant it that way. I couldn't help but start to imagine, after reading through the posted letter and finding it absolutely ridiculous, Kim Jong-il's voice from Team America.

I am a bastard.

[JCE10]

Originally Posted by solipsism

No, we are assuming that the ruling in favor of Luxpro was such a blatant injustice that the the Taiwanese government must be excessively corrupt. No matter how the pure the hearts of it's populace, a company can only function as well as the law allows it to.

Since you seconded a previous comment mentioning simply "Taiwan", I took it to mean the entire Taiwanese population and not just the government. But anyway, thanks for not generalizing.

And look at it the other way, if Apple were to sue Microsoft for ripping off Mac OS X for its Vista designs, do you think Apple would win?? We all know where MS got the inspiration from, but the sad fact is such arguments might not hold up in courts.

And that's the key here, since the Luxpro product does have a screen, it's hard to *legally* say it's an iPod rip-off. It's very shaddy business. Very sad.

[webmail]

Pride goes before a fall, and an arrogant spirit before destruction..

First of all, as I'm sure Apple has figure out by now, that Supreme court in Tawain that they lost their appeal too is usually paid off, and very corrupt.

Apple will win in Tawain, all it has to do is go to high up government officials, who have been getting billion in free Apple product for years, and the decision will get reversed.

The Tawainese company is just trying to milk it for attention, how the "big bad Apple, is coming after the little guy", who did nothing but exactly copy the design of Apple's iPod Shuffle 2 weeks after it was released. (By the way it only sold 12,000) units most of which they couldn't produce.

Anyway these guys will be shut up, it's just a matter of when.

[lonepilgrim]

Originally Posted by webmail

Apple will win in Tawain, all it has to do is go to high up government officials, who have been getting billion in free Apple product for years, and the decision will get reversed.

Yeah. That'd be a great way to resolve the situation.

[wilco]

Originally Posted by webmail

...that Supreme court in Tawain that they lost their appeal too is usually paid off, and very corrupt.

Apple will win in Tawain, all it has to do is go to high up government officials, who have been getting billion in free Apple product for years, and the decision will get reversed.

So, corruption/bribery is ok when it benefits Apple? Billions of free Apple products is a lot. I'm assuming you've got a link or something to back this up?

Originally Posted by webmail

Pride goes before a fall, and an arrogant spirit before destruction.

I knew when I read the title of this thread that there'd be a lot of overly-enthusiastic comments from people -- most of who had no idea what they were talking about. But the Chinese impersonation was a bonus.

[pairof9s]

Apple has a lawsuit on its hands. The vitriol aside, one has to wonder how Luxpro expects to win this case. Apple sued and won an injunction to halt the sale of their product. The court is the one that decided to stop Luxpro from selling its product until a final judgment was handed.

I seem to doubt that Luxpro will be able to prove Apple stopped or impeded the sale of their Super Shuffle, and thus is responsible for damages. This is simply the machination of the legal system. I guess good old "Out of court" will settle this issue.

/

[digitalclips]

Let us not forget that Shuffle is no more. Apple moved the target. The new Shuffle now reigns supreme and I assume this cheap knock off can't use iTunes and no doubt doesn't use the same type of software or click wheel ... so who is going to buy it? Oh yes I know, it will probably go well with a Zune

[TheMadHermit]

Originally Posted by digitalclips

Let us not forget that Shuffle is no more. Apple moved the target. The new Shuffle now reigns supreme and I assume this cheap knock off can't use iTunes and no doubt doesn't use the same type of software or click wheel ... so who is going to buy it? Oh yes I know, it will probably go well with a Zune

Crackalackin'.

[TheMadHermit]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Thanks for pointing it out. I didn't even notice when I read it. haha

The inability to separate Ls and Rs is not a genetic one, but a culture one based on early age formations of linguistic constructs. Now, is this really a "racist" statement?

Perhapse not. What distinguishing characteristic of racism is it that makes us object to it though? Certainly there is the aspect of unfair discrimination, but isn't that just a side-effect anyway? Might the truely objectionable thing, that which leads to all other ills that we associate with racism, be a sense that the person or group in question (asians in this case) are somehow inferior to us (those making the comment) because of something that is totally (or mostly) out of their control, and the disgust and hate that repetition of these sentiments generally tend to lead to (not to mention the long, analytical, run-on sentences which proliferate in online forums in order to discuss the subject)?

TMH

btw, freeny, thats not a slap at you, just me getting all philosophicalish.

[Maestro64]

Originally Posted by digitalclips

Let us not forget that Shuffle is no more. Apple moved the target. The new Shuffle now reigns supreme and I assume this cheap knock off can't use iTunes and no doubt doesn't use the same type of software or click wheel ... so who is going to buy it? Oh yes I know, it will probably go well with a Zune

You nailed it, and this is the reason for the counter suite the company is trying to recover what they thought they obviously loss and fact they can not longer capitalize on the apple shuffle product marketing. They could begin sales again but people only value it as a used ipod shuffle.

apple successfully delayed their attempt to make money off apples efforts and that is all that matters at this point whether apple won or loss their original law suite, and I doublt that they will have to pay anything.

[Maestro64]

Originally Posted by Rolo

Talk about chutzpah! Apple should threaten to cease all manufacturing ops in Taiwan if these fools can't recognize international copyrights. Beyond absurd, these creeps.

I do not believe Apple does anymore manufacturing in Taiwan, they moved it all to main land China. Even though they still use Foxconn for manufacturing which is Taiwan company most of thier plants are now in China.

By the way, if you do not want China to knock off your products you better manufacture there, thus the reason so many hardward companys have located manufacturing there. As you notice China is still copying and selling ripped of movies and software.

[Celemourn]

Originally Posted by TheMadHermit

<launches a catapult full of needles at SpamSandwich, while wheedling in the background>

Ok, dude, that's like SERIOUSLY MY gag, m'kay? Hands off!

*Hurls a Pine Tree at TheMadHermit! Oooh, it STUCK!*

[themacolyte]

Originally Posted by freeny

absorootrey frivorus!

Originally Posted by TheMadHermit

hmmm... now here we are presented with a very trickey statement. Clearly, this is making fun of Asian dificulties in separating 'L' and 'R' in spoken English.... my first impulse is to take it as a racist comment, but damn if I'm not guilty of the same thing every time I get one of the Japanese transfer students in my Japanese class to try to say "Squirel". Am I a bastard, or is context a valid consideration?

What does the Peanut Gallery say?

TMH

Funny, this didn't occur to me when I saw it. I was thinking of Scooby Doo. Is Scooby Doo just a veiled racist character? I think I've just been robbed of some lingering innocence.

On the legal action, I don't think a company should be able to sue another company in this manner for exercising the legal process. This is as ludicrous as filing suit against the original judge because his ruling was eventually overturned. The argument would be that he made a mistake that cost the company money and the Taiwanese government, as his employer, should pay up.

[max_naylor]

Bastards! How did they get away with this? This is injust.

[psilopsyche]

Originally Posted by JCE10

So you guys automatically assume the all-mighty Luxpro represents the entire population of Taiwan and its disregard for intellectual property? Give me a break.

If you visit Taiwanese discussion forums, you'll see plenty of iPod fans disgusted over this entire deal.

Plus, just because Luxpro countersues, doesn't mean it'll win.

Thank you!

[psilopsyche]

Originally Posted by TheMadHermit

Perhapse not. What distinguishing characteristic of racism is it that makes us object to it though? Certainly there is the aspect of unfair discrimination, but isn't that just a side-effect anyway? Might the truely objectionable thing, that which leads to all other ills that we associate with racism, be a sense that the person or group in question (asians in this case) are somehow inferior to us (those making the comment) because of something that is totally (or mostly) out of their control, and the disgust and hate that repetition of these sentiments generally tend to lead to (not to mention the long, analytical, run-on sentences which proliferate in online forums in order to discuss the subject)?

TMH

btw, freeny, thats not a slap at you, just me getting all philosophicalish.

Those's some mad linguistics you done there capacified rec'n.

[shamino]

Originally Posted by JCE10

And that's the key here, since the Luxpro product does have a screen, it's hard to *legally* say it's an iPod rip-off. It's very shaddy business. Very sad.

Except that the Super Tangent doesn't have a screen. Go and google for it and see if you can find any screen. CNet's review even points this out as a critical problem with the device. But even aside from that, it has several features the Shuffle does not have (like a voice recorder and FM radio tuner), and comes in colors that Apple has never shipped.

As much as I like Apple, I would have to agree - this device is not doing anything illegal. It has a different feature set, it is not using any Apple trademarks, it identifies itself as a Luxpro product, and the overall look is far to trivial to be protected. (If that was protected, then every USB thumb-drive would be a potential violator as well.)

Now, if they later try to release something like the new Shuffle, that might be something different. It's look is something that clearly had a lot more thought behind it.

Followup: Although the Super Tangent has no screen, a different Luxpro product, the EZ Tangent does have a screen. But I've seen no indication that Apple was suing over this model - it is distinctive enough that no consumer would ever confuse it with an iPod Shuffle.