Apple taking auctions off eBay for white iPhone 4's

[R1futly]

I personally have had a few listings removed from eBay because Apple has notified them that my item violates copyright laws. I pointed out that my sales were using the pre-set information from eBay's site and that if I was at fault so was eBay. Needless to say I got nowhere with them and the templates for the white phones are still available on their site. I did notice however that I could only find two or three listings for white iPhone 4's. Looks like Apple is getting all the sales for white phones taken down.

[DRFP]

This is the only story on the Web about this?

Are you sure? Ebay will remove fraudulent auctions, fakes

[i.Annie]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing it because they seem to intend on releasing the white iPhone 4. But even then that's not for sure. There's also not many people who do the conversion/modification and usually sell their phones the way it came. So I also wouldn't be surprised that there's only a few white iPhone 4's for sale.

[R1futly]

Below is a copy of the message that I received from eBay when they removed my sale. A few weeks ago you could find over 100 white iPhone 4's on eBay; now like I said only 2 or 3.

MC019 eBay Listing Removed: Trademark Violation - Unauthorized Item (446084962)

Dear,

You recently listed the following listing:

260722587783 - Apple iphone 4 White (16GB) (Unlocked)


Your listing has been removed.

Your item was removed because of a request we received from Apple, Inc., a member of our Verified Rights Owner Program (VeRO), asking us to remove the item for:

- Item(s) is a counterfeit product which infringes the trademark owner's rights.

For more information on why your item was removed, you should:
- Contact Apple, Inc. directly at [email protected] with your questions or concerns.
- Wait 7 days for Apple, Inc. to reply to you. Although most VeRO participants are willing to respond to polite email, please know that they aren't obligated to reply.
- If after 7 days you haven't received a response from Apple, Inc., please contact us by simply replying to this email.

The rights owner or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner, Apple, Inc., notified eBay that this listing violates intellectual property rights. When eBay receives a report of this type of violation, we remove the listing to comply with the law.



It's against the law to sell fake, counterfeit, or pirated products.

Your listing was removed because the item in your listing was reported by the rights owner as a fake or counterfeit through eBay's VeRO Program. Due to this report, please do not attempt to relist, advertise, or offer this item for sale on any eBay site or service around the world.

Here's more information on our policy:
Replicas, counterfeit items, and unauthorized copies policy

And you can learn more about trademarks here:
Trademark and Domain Name Basics

If you have additional questions in regard to contacting the VeRO Member or if you need additional information on how to contact the VeRO Member, you can chat with one of our policy experts.

You can reach them from 6:00AM to 11:00 PM MST. Get started by clicking the link below.
eBay Live Help

You may need to take a tutorial. If it's required, you may be asked to take it the next time you sell. Once you've completed the tutorial successfully, please review your account status for any other possible concerns. If there are no other issues, you should be able to sell again.

To take the intellectual property tutorial, please visit:
eBay Policy Tutorial - VeRO

Please be aware that any additional violations of this policy may result in the suspension of your account. We understand that you may be concerned about this situation.

We encourage you to contact Apple, Inc. directly if you have any questions.

You can send an email to: [email protected]

For more information on how eBay protects Intellectual Property, or for additional information if you believe that your listing has been removed as a result of an error or misidentification, please visit the following Help page:

How eBay protects intellectual property (VeRO)



For more information on why eBay may remove a listing, please visit:
Why did eBay remove my listing?

Please be assured that your listings have not been targeted in any way. We review all listings that are reported to us by eBay members or Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program participants.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

eBay Trust & Safety team

[DRFP]

- Item(s) is a counterfeit product which infringes the trademark owner's rights.

See its what I said Ebay thinks its a Counterfit, how can you list a white Iphone 4 before they are out anyway?

Where are people getting white Iphone 4's before they are released?

[i.Annie]

Yep^ eBay has a huge issue with counterfeit products. Since the White iPhone is not out, Apple can report it as a counterfeit and eBay will do as it sees fit. If anything is potentially dangerous to a buyer such as buying a counterfeit device, they don't want to be liable for it.

There are so many copies and replicas out there for iPhone, it seems reasonable they're taking the precautions to remove listings where iPhone clones or possible clones are involved.

See its what I said Ebay thinks its a Counterfit, how can you list a white Iphone 4 before they are out anyway?

Where are people getting white Iphone 4's before they are released?

People modify them. They change the housing.

[xclusiveiphone]

Guess you'll have to sell it on Craig's list.

[DRFP]

Yep^ eBay has a huge issue with counterfeit products. Since the White iPhone is not out, Apple can report it as a counterfeit and eBay will do as it sees fit. If anything is potentially dangerous to a buyer such as buying a counterfeit device, they don't want to be liable for it.

There are so many copies and replicas out there for iPhone, it seems reasonable they're taking the precautions to remove listings where iPhone clones or possible clones are involved.



People modify them. They change the housing.

Then some listings are fraud since they say they are OEM in Box.

Apple is right

I would not trust they are even real Iphones since there are fakes that look pretty good, box and phone...........

The auctions are 500 to 1000 USD for these phones I hope Ebay does take them down.

Of course Modded phones are fine but no Apple warranty

[area51crypto]

The reason Apple can do this is because the parts have Apple logo on them.

[StealthBravo]

The reason Apple can do this is because the parts have Apple logo on them.

Yep exactly

[DRFP]

The reason Apple can do this is because the parts have Apple logo on them.

So is it then Fraud even though the seller says "Modded"?

Maybe it is? Maybe its the stupid mistake of these "Smart" Modder's that they should of modded it without the logo

[area51crypto]

So is it then Fraud even though the seller says "Modded"?

Maybe it is? Maybe its the stupid mistake of these "Smart" Modder's that they should of modded it without the logo

One cannot sell anything with someones Logo unless you own it or have rights to use it.

All these people would have to do is not have the Apple name or logo or Patent number on the parts. JMO

[DRFP]

One cannot sell anything with someones Logo unless you own it or have rights to use it.

All these people would have to do is not have the Apple name or logo or Patent number on the parts. JMO

Yes thats my point, its fraud since it has the Apple logo on the new white case, it did not come that way and now people will buy them and brag they have a white Iphone. For some reason the color matters so much that people are willing to pay 30% or more for them over a black Iphone, all Iphones should be in cases though since they scratch easy............

[mmaboi21]

They have red, blue, aluminum. The red actually looks really nice.