Police Find Apple Branded Stoves In China

An anonymous reader writes "Just when you thought the Apple knockoff trade in China couldn't get any more ridiculous, Chinese Police recently seized 681 "Apple iPhone" branded gas stoves in the city of Wuhan. Yep, that's right, some folks are peddling gas grills and are trying to made the product more appealing by stamping an Apple logo alongside the 'iPhone' moniker on the front."

Accessories?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

I would have thought that the iPhone accessories market could easily accommodate this. But a revision of RFC 2324 for a broader set of appliances would be in order for that to happen.

Just goes to show

[Rik Sweeney]

That these days you can just stick an Apple logo on something and the drones will buy it.

Did anyone see the alleged iPhone 5 prototype images last week? Someone on Facebook posted them and people were going apeshit, saying how great it looked and how much they wanted one. It was completely impracticable to use, but that didn't matter because it was the new iPhone.

Compatibility

[jmv]

"We're sorry, the food you are trying to cook is not compatible with this stove. Please obtain compatible food from your local Apple supermarket."

Re:Does it work.

[ackthpt]

Did it really work to increase sales of a gas stove? Would sticking an apple logo on something just automatically increase sales in China?

Consider this is only new in China, back decades ago you could expect the same in Japan - anything with English or an American Brand Name associated with it was considered good marketing in Japan. Consider how utterly ridiculous the marketing is in America before laughing at the Chinese. Trucks and Cars named after towns, cities and areas. Honestly, what exactly is 'Silverado' or 'Sonoma' about a vehicle? It certainly wasn't made there. Jeep Rubicon? Excuse me, but that's an Italian river and more familiar with the phrase 'Crossing the Rubicon' akin to making a move from which there is no return, as Julius Caesar took his legion across the river (I'm sure they didn't have Jeeps then). How utterly preposterous, isn't it? I think to succeed in marketing one must have no idea what they heck they are talking about, but absolute belief it's the right thing to name something.

Re:Is it legal?

[UnknowingFool]

The main problem is that while you can use a trademarked name in a different industry, these gas stoves are clearly being passed off as Apple products when they are not. They are using the Apple logos in combination with a recognizable product, the iPhone. Most legitimate companies let you know their affiliations and non-affiliations like during the Olympics, visiting www.olympic.com takes you to Olympic Paints which says something like "We are not associated with the Olympic games.". Most companies have to protect their brand. These products are a different arena of intellectual property violations. They are not counterfeit but unlicensed merchandise. For example Coca-Cola does not make winter ear-muffs but an ear-muff company can't stick the Coca-Cola logos on the products without a licensing agreement with Coca-Cola without being sued.

Re:Apple's next announcement...

[ackthpt]

Real men grill with charcoal.

Real men cook over a wood fire.