22 more Apple stores are fakes
Source: Agencies |
00:37 UTC+8 August 12, 2011
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ANOTHER 22 unauthorised Apple retailers have been discovered in China's southwestern city of Kunming, just weeks after a fake store in the city sparked an international storm.
Officials in the Yunnan provincial capital said the stores have been ordered to stop using Apple's logo after Apple China accused them of unfair competition and violating its registered trademark.
Kunming's Administration for Industry and Commerce said it would set up a complaints hotline and boost monitoring, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
In July, inspections of around 300 shops in Kunming were carried out after a blog post by an American living in the city exposed a near-flawless fake Apple Store where even the staff were convinced they were working for the maker of iPhones and iPads.
Five self-branded Apple Stores were found to be selling Apple products without authorization from the California-based company, but only two were told to shut because the outlets did not have an official business permit, officials said.
The order did not apply to the store mentioned by the American, which is applying to Apple for a reseller licence, a local government spokesman said after the inspections.
According to local officials, all five unauthorized Apple shops were selling genuine Apple products bought from authorized resellers in China.
Apple has just four genuine Apple Stores on Chinese mainland, in Beijing and Shanghai, and none in Kunming.
Chinese law protects trademarks and prohibits companies from copying the "look and feel" of other companies' stores.
Officials in the Yunnan provincial capital said the stores have been ordered to stop using Apple's logo after Apple China accused them of unfair competition and violating its registered trademark.
Kunming's Administration for Industry and Commerce said it would set up a complaints hotline and boost monitoring, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
In July, inspections of around 300 shops in Kunming were carried out after a blog post by an American living in the city exposed a near-flawless fake Apple Store where even the staff were convinced they were working for the maker of iPhones and iPads.
Five self-branded Apple Stores were found to be selling Apple products without authorization from the California-based company, but only two were told to shut because the outlets did not have an official business permit, officials said.
The order did not apply to the store mentioned by the American, which is applying to Apple for a reseller licence, a local government spokesman said after the inspections.
According to local officials, all five unauthorized Apple shops were selling genuine Apple products bought from authorized resellers in China.
Apple has just four genuine Apple Stores on Chinese mainland, in Beijing and Shanghai, and none in Kunming.
Chinese law protects trademarks and prohibits companies from copying the "look and feel" of other companies' stores.
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