Apple Inc. claimed in a lawsuit that 90% of official charges sold on Amazon.com are fake, The Verge reported. According to the report, the tech giant is suing a company named Mobile Star LLC for making those fake charges labeled as the real thing. A report in 9to5Mac suggests the concerned products were sold by Amazon directly, and not by a third-party Marketplace seller. PatentlyApple published the text of the lawsuit, in which Apple reported buying a number of Mobile Star’s chargers from Amazon. The 9to5Mac report says that Amazon now has removed those items from its website.
Products Were Dangerous Fakes: Apple
The chargers, according to the reports, were listed as genuine Apple products. Amazon was selling and shipping the charges, the reports said.
The iPhone maker reported that it purchased more than 100 “iPhone devices, Apple power products, and Lightning cables sold as genuine” by other sellers on Amazon. The company found that 90% of these products were actually fakes.
The company’s engineers checked the products and found that they were “poorly constructed, with inferior or missing components, flawed design, and inadequate electrical insulation.” According to the company, the products weren’t just fakes, but they were dangerous fakes.
“Counterfeit power products, such as those supplied by Mobile Star, pose an immediate threat to consumer safety because, unlike genuine Apple products, they are not subjected to industry-standard consumer safety testing and are poorly constructed with inferior or missing components, flawed design, and inadequate electrical insulation. These counterfeits have the potential to overheat, catch fire, and deliver a deadly electric shock to consumers while in normal use.”
According to a report from Patently Apple, the iPhone maker has filed a trademark infringement case against Mobile Star, which was named by Amazon as the primary supplier of the counterfeit products.
The iPhone maker claims that Mobile Star was illegally using its trademark and selling the fake chargers that had not passed safety tests, posing a risk to consumers.
Amazon’s Response
“Consumers, relying on Amazon.com’s reputation, have no reason to suspect the power products they purchased from Amazon.com are anything but genuine. This is particularly true where, as here, the products are sold directly ‘by Amazon.com’ as genuine Apple products using Apple’s own product marketing images,” Apple writes, The Verge reported.
According to the reports, Apple informed Amazon about the problematic chargers from Mobile Star. The e-commerce behemoth reportedly turned over its entire inventory.
Amazon has “zero tolerance for the sale of counterfeits,” and that it works “closely with manufacturers and brands, and [pursues] wrongdoers aggressively,” the company told MacRumors.
Apple said that the fake products have damaged its own reputation as consumers buy what they believe to be genuine items, which did not perform as they should, and are dangerous. The tech giant is seeking an injunction against Mobile Star, destruction of all counterfeit items and damages of $2M per product type.
Amazon has sued more than 1,000 parties for allegedly offering fake reviews for sale to post on the retailer’s website. The company is taking actions against merchants who bought fake reviews to boost their sales.
In other news, Apple is rumored to launch a new MacBook Pro on October 27 in Cupertino.
