Apple sues clone power adapter manufacturer

[Justin]

Apple is taking another company to court, once again over knock-off hardware. Media Solutions Holdings will face Cupertino in court over making power adapters for laptops, at least one model of which allegedly violates an Apple patent.

The company being sued peddles more than just Apple knock-offs, they sell adapters for numerous brand-name laptops, including HP, Acer, Sony, Toshiba and Lenovo. It's a quite common business, as most brand-name power adapters can be expensive.

Apple is often synonymous with pricey, which makes them a common target for manufacturers of clone hardware like Psystar, but the term "counterfeit" better describes this case. It seems that Media Solutions Holdings was attempting to pass its adapters off as genuine Apple hardware.

It is not mentioned if other laptop manufacturers are taking any interest in the case. Apple is aiming for the company to cease manufacturing the adapter in question, which currently doesn't seem to be listed on the numerous sites they operate. Monetary compensation wasn't mentioned, but is possible.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/37141-apple-sues-clone-power-adapter-manufacturer.html

 

[Kibaruk]

Hope Apple gets burned from this.

The product isn't even listed, good luck to Cupertino.

 

[Boogityboo04]

If they are actually counterfeit, more power to apple, but if the company is simply selling a cheap alternative to apple's overpriced hardware I really hope it gets shot down in court.

 

[Fada]

if there IP is being pirated then go for it, if they just want a cheaper version off the market than i hop they lose as boogityboo said, Apple are poping up in court a lot more than usual latley!

 

[klepto12]

hmm this seems legit if they are counterfeit products otherwise i hope apple get burned.

 

[yorro]

Clone adapters could be dangerous considering how cheap they are.

 

[Fada]

yorro said:
Clone adapters could be dangerous considering how cheap they are.

You really dont know how much it costs to make this stuff, apple probably get it made cheaper than the clone manufacturer but up the price cause they can!

 

[stwongbad85]

I do not approve of scamming people into thinking they are buying a genuine apple product, but otherwise, apple needs to give it a rest with the lawsuits. they are on a slippery slope to becoming TOTAL D-bags.
.
on the power adapter note, it is long past overdue that we adopt an industry standard recharging adapter solution. The majority of devices use that mini usb jack, but maybe something sturdier and magnetic that everyone could agree on.

 

[matchu]

agrees with @stwongbad85. A standard would be very helpful. My friend had ot replace his power adapter... had to buy one from Dell directly. Goodness, so expensive.

 

[harby]

Apple is becoming boring. Seriously, I'm sure they have like 1000 lawyers sitting all day and searching the Internet for stuff like this so they have someone to sue.

 

[timljh]

hopefully it is not another lawsuit by apple to try to monopolize the market? just like the phystar, i don't see anything wrong with selling an alternative but passing it off as a genuine product is kind of overboard.

 

[lfg18]

I hope apple lose, their products are really overpriced as to complain for some company trying to offers cheaper alternatives, the standart plug would be a very good idea

 

[slh28]

And in other news, Apple is suing Sennheiser, Sony and Bose for making cheaper and better earphones... I seriously wonder who in the right mind would buy all the overpriced Apple accessories - they're definitely priced for the fanboy segment of the market.

 

[Razerblade]

I can understand why Apple is sueing if they have got a patent on their charger. However, the cost for their hardware is ridiculous so i welcome any cheaper alternatives!

 

[Puiu]

People are starting to get fed up with apple. There used to be so many apple fans posting about how good a mac is and now i barely see anyone (if any) saying something good about them.

 

[Kibaruk]

I agree with some people in here talking about standarizing the notebook/netbook chargers, would be amazing. Many companies could benefit from this, for as cheapo' as they are to make I don't really know the number, imagine some good quality costs to build around 10 bucks, if they don't have to sell the notebook with the charger they can actually transmit some discount to the buyers, and then spend 15-20 bucks (Imagining you don't have one) to buy a generic one out there.

Pretty much like something most of us read a while ago, about cellphone chargers going to come with universal chargers.

 

[buttus]

Apple has a program for third party manufacturers called "Made for iPod". Anything with this label has been tested and authorized by Apple to work with Apple products. I agree with them suing this third party as (having been in retail) I know how many non-authorized third party accessories either fry iPods or are returned simply because they just don't work. By suing this third party supplier Apple could be seeking to remove some headaches from unaware consumers who buy crappy but cheap third party solutions.

 

[kaonis92]

I hope Apple gets burned. The prices of its products are always insane. The European union is already trying to make a universal charger standard based on miniUSB for mobiles, something similar should be done for laptops.

 

[ColdPreacher]

kaonis92 said:
I hope Apple gets burned. The prices of its products are always insane. The European union is already trying to make a universal charger standard based on miniUSB for mobiles, something similar should be done for laptops.

Youre right. There should be a universal adapter for common devices.

 

[Ranger12]

Apple sues people on a continual basis. How is this news. lol

 

[freedomthinker]

Seriously does apple really so screw up in the head for money ? I know its the basis of the capitalistic system , but come on ? Suing for every little thing ?

 

[Kibaruk]

Ok Freedomthinker, if you get a business running, and then someone gets a proffit out of it without paying you anything for the effort you made, would you be ok?

Think before you write (I mean you have a lot of time between the thinking, writting and hitting the reply button).

I still hope Apple gets burned with this =)

 

[KG363]

I hate when companies overcharge for items, then sue the guys who make the same product and sell it cheaper. Its things like this that make me have no respect for Apple

 

[ken777]

If you look at the patent that's linked in the article, it's for the "ornamental design" of the adapter and not some special tech. I don't really know anything about patents, but it sounds like 3rd party adapters might be ok as long as they don't look almost exactly the same as the apple one.

 

[JMMD]

I'm fine with the clones assuming they're reliable and don't catch fire but I've seen some really bad 3rd party adapters.