In a tweet published Tuesday evening, US customs welcomed the seizure of 2,000 imitations of Apple's AirPods wireless headphones from Hong Kong.
"
This shipment would have been worth $ 398,000
(335,000 euros)
if they had been genuine,
" she said.
But the headphones confiscated by the authorities are in fact OnePlus Buds, real products of the Chinese brand OnePlus, as shown by the photographs published by the border guards.
They are sold in the United States for $ 79, bringing the price of the goods seized to $ 158,000 ($ 133,000).
The message posted by customs sparked mockery from Internet users.
"
Give them back to us!"
“OnePlus also replied jokingly.
Design differences
The story could have ended there, a simple error in judgment of an overzealous customs officer.
But questioned by American media, customs denied being wrong, and claims to have seized these headphones knowingly.
“
Following an inspection, we found that the earphones in question violate Apple's intellectual property.
Headphones produced by Apple are a registered trademark with us.
We therefore seized this cargo,
”she said in a statement taken up by the specialized site Android Police.
Still, Apple has not filed a complaint about the wireless headphones produced by OnePlus, which are still available for sale in the United States.
In addition, if the two products are built similarly and can be confused at first glance, they still have design differences.
OnePlus may have been inspired by Apple, but it's not trying to cheat its customers.
But for US Customs, just because a copy is not sold under the name of the original doesn't mean it is counterfeit.
“
This entry has nothing to do with the presentation of the product.
A company does not necessarily have to put “Apple” on their product to violate the intellectual property of that company,
”she argued.
Authorities have not specified whether they plan to seize the next arrivals of OnePlus Buds headphones in the United States.
It leaves OnePlus the possibility of appealing.
The company will therefore have to prove to him that its headphones are not a counterfeit of Apple's AirPods to recover them and put them on sale.
This episode takes place in the context of a trade war between China and the United States, which particularly affects the technology sector.
Several Chinese products, such as Huawei's 5G equipment and ByteDance's TikTok application, are banned or threatened to be in the United States.