Apple is going to sue me!!!

[walkingupwards]

I sold generic iPhone charging cables (bought from China) and the problem is I used "Apple" in the title of my listing. The listing got reported by Markmonitor and got pulled down eventually. All of this happend in Sep/2017.

I contacted Markmonitor and asked why they reported the listing, got the usual response and then I did a very f***ed up mistake: I asked for the information of their legal representative in Germany.

2 days ago I got called by their lawyer in Germany and he was kinda nice on the phone, explained why the listing got pulled down and asked me to send him the invoices I got from my supplier. He told me that if I am cooperative I don't have to worry about a lawsuit from Apple because he will tell Apple that I was cooperative with him and as I am in Germany, he suspects nothing would come out of this.

After our phone call we contacted each other through e-mail. This is the e-mail I got from him today:


Dear Mr. XXX,

As I told you on the phone yesterday Apple asked me to take care of this matter now. There is no need to contact MarkMonitor as it is not their decision how to now proceed. I believe I explained to you yesterday your options how to resolve this matter hopefully in an amicable way. But getting back to MarkMonitor will not change anything.

Finally, I believe I explained sufficient clear in our call yesterday and in my subsequent email that we expect as a sign of cooperation that you provide us with your suppliers' invoices. If I do not hear back from you in this respect by next Tuesday, I will advise my client to now pursue further legal actions.

Best regards




I am afraid that if I send him the invoices he would be able to build a case against me and the invoices will be the 1st step in doing that!!

I contacted a lawyer few weeks ago and asked him what to do in case I receive a "Cease and dissest letter", I asked in the form of what he would do in such a case and his reply was:

If it were me I would not pay anything upon receiving such a letter, let Apple sue for the money first. They do that very seldomly



What do you think I should do? Should I send him the invoices or should I ignore him?

Do you think this a scaring tactic to get the invoices or are the threats legit?



P.S: I sold the cables on Ebay.de as I live in Germany.

[user3657]

Other guys can chime in, I dont have any experiences with apple products...but I got one thing to say......

furk lawyers. They use the "sue" route to intimidate people. Very rarely do they sue. I was 18 and got some company/lawyer sent a letter demanding I pay 100k or they will take me to court. where the hell is anyone going to have 100k just laying around? they are all BS.

[rsot]

Welcome to the forums - all the best as you master stealth

You have given them WAY TOO MUCH info about yourself....phone, e-mail, etc.

You should have come here FIRST before doing all this.

The forum does not exist to give legal advice - go get counsel.

[MM78]

Originally Posted by user3657

Other guys can chime in, I dont have any experiences with apple products...but I got one thing to say......

furk lawyers. They use the "sue" route to intimidate people. Very rarely do they sue. I was 18 and got some company/lawyer sent a letter demanding I pay 100k or they will take me to court. where the hell is anyone going to have 100k just laying around? they are all BS.

Sounds like the letter I got from Johnson and Pham......

[walkingupwards]

Originally Posted by rsot

Welcome to the forums - all the best as you master stealth

You have given them WAY TOO MUCH info about yourself....phone, e-mail, etc.

You should have come here FIRST before doing all this.

The forum does not exist to give legal advice - go get counsel.

They already had all my information the moment they reported my listing on Ebay.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by MM78

Sounds like the letter I got from Johnson and Pham......

Problem is that OP has already been contacting back and forth with a legal rep...providing e-mail, phone number, and maybe even address...

[technokidd1]

Does the apple representative have any legit information like your legal name, business, address, email address, registered number, etc?

How much were you able to sell and/or receive in payments?

Do you block your internet connection efficiently even when sending and receiving emails?

Personally, I wouldn't give up anything. Even if they had my legal information like the lawyer said they'll have to sew me first. Additionally just reading the tone of the Assle Rep... Sorry Apple Rep, he's clearly fishing for your information, he's getting impatient and he isn't playing nice. Furthermore he's getting paid by apple to deal with guys like you, so why would he not turn you in. But I will say this, if it's a few thousand dollars of sales it wold be really petty of apple to waste there time and money chasing it, they would much rather track down the big guys flipping larger amounts and quantities.

[MM78]

Originally Posted by walkingupwards

Do you think this a scaring tactic to get the invoices or are the threats legit?
P.S: I sold the cables on Ebay.de as I live in Germany.

Seriously, you need to contact a Lawyer....This forum can only give you some sketchy answers at best. If you used your real information they can sue you and most likely win. So again, contact a lawyer in Germany immediately.

[GreenBean]

Stoppen Sie jeglichen Kontakt mit der Firma... Sie müssen dies mit einem Anwalt besprechen... Das Forum ist nicht in der Lage zu helfen. Suchen Sie schnell Hilfe...

Stop all contact with the company... You need to discuss this with a lawyer... The Forum is not in a position to help. Seek help quickly...

[JamesYaBaoy]

1. In general never give documents, or any information to a lawyer, who does not work for you.

2.I imagine Apple has bigger "fish to fry" than someone who sold a few sketchy cables.If you were a serious problem to Apple, they would have had your account taken down, or filed an injunction.

3.If they were going to sue you, they would just do it. Also, your "supplier invoices" would be something they could obtain during discovery.


Basically, the guy is hoping to get more information out of you without the trouble of filing a lawsuit.

[duffrageous]

I got a cease and desist letter for running a website that had apples in the name. i just put up a note at the bottom saying we weren't associated with the Apple electronics company. it's their job to threaten as many people as possible, and they'll only sue you if it'll make them money or you are a threat to their business. It seems like they just want the big fish to take down the factory in China.

[walkingupwards]

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

@OP - Don't ever reach out to a brand protection company.

I sadly already did :-( I think I am gonna call this lawyer from a private number and give him the name of the supplier and say that's it. You got what you want, now I am not gonna answer you anymore.

What do you think guys?

[ebaystealth1974]

Is the lawyer who sent you the email also German? Because that's not very good English...

[walkingupwards]

Originally Posted by ebaystealth1974

Is the lawyer who sent you the email also German? Because that's not very good English...

Yes he is. He was kinda nice on the phone and in his last e-mail he claims that he explained to me how I can solve this matter hopefully in an amicable way. The thing is I am afraid of sending him the invoices because they could eventually serve as evidence against me.

I am thinking about sending him an anonymous SMS with the supplier info (e-mail,phone and address) and saying we are done now.


I suspect that the main reason he contacted me is because I wrote to Markmonitor and asked about their legal representative in Germany! I know that was more than stupid, but at first I thought a rival seller submitted a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ Vero takedown and I was communicating with a spoofed e-mail address.


The German lawyer talked to me on the phone for almost 20 minutes and has not sent me any paper mail even though he has my address.

I contacted a German lawyer a while ago (when the listing got pulled down) and asked him what he would do if he were me and he said the following:

"I would not send Apple a preemptive cease and dissest letter, and even if they sent me one I would not pay anything. Let Apple first sue for the money, they do that very seldomley"


Now I am stuck between 2 ideas, the first is sending this damn lawyer my supplier info (anonymously) and the 2nd idea is to just ignore him.

[phaz0rz]

"If I do not hear back from you in this respect by next Tuesday, I will advise my client to now pursue further legal actions."

Sounds like he's just trying to scare you by saying he will recommend to Apple that they pursue legal action. Doesn't mean Apple will take that advice and spend all of the money required to sue you.

Frankly, I just wouldn't respond anymore. Official legal correspondence isn't sent via email. At least not here in USA.

[admcgee]

Originally Posted by walkingupwards

Now I am stuck between 2 ideas, the first is sending this damn lawyer my supplier info (anonymously) and the 2nd idea is to just ignore him.

Let me get this straight you are juggling ideas from either a LAWYER who went to school for this type of thing and your own idea? Are you kidding me? Listen to your lawyer, cease all contact.

[ebaystealth1974]

Exactly. They aren't gonna sue some small-time seller.

[walkingupwards]

He told me that he should report back to Apple and advice, he would say that I was cooperative and gave my supplier info. He says exactly this in his first e-mail:

"I don't have the right to waive the legal pursuit, but I would like to think that my client (Apple) in case you have cooperated will not pursuit further legal action".

I am thinking about sending him an anonymous SMS with the supplier info without mentioning my name in it. What do you think?

[newjerseymax]

Well maybe they want to make example.

How are they going to prove that they are not apple products? Hence why they want those supplier invoices. Don't give them all the ammunition. You have provided and done way too much already

[walkingupwards]

Originally Posted by newjerseymax

Well maybe they want to make example.

How are they going to prove that they are not apple products? Hence why they want those supplier invoices. Don't give them all the ammunition. You have provided and done way too much already

I am not the who provided them with anything. When Markmonitor reported m listing through the Vero program, Ebay gave them my phone number, e-mail address, and my physical address as well.


The good thing is they have not bought any cables from me so they are not in possession of a sample from my inventory.

I think a party that intends to sue you will not first call you, be nice and give you 7 weeks until you provide them with the info they want. If they were to sue, they would have filed a lawsuit from the beginning, why go through all this hustle!!!

[phaz0rz]

If OP is being truthful there's not really any way Apple could make an example out of him like they did with Mobile Star last year. OP says he wasn't even selling phake Apple stuff, he just used the trademarked word "Apple" in a listing title. I don't see how anyone could extrapolate an accurate dollar amount for how much OP has costed Apple by using the term "Apple" in a listing title for a generic cable.

[dallis]

An attorney gave you advice.

TAKE IT!

Don't let them frighten you into doing something ELSE stupid.

Cease all communications and if you do get a suit then do what you have to do.

Seriously, who the heck is going to sue you over a few cables? There's no money in it and no deterrence in your case either.

They know bloody well who is building those cables, they don't need you to tell them.

It isn't illegal to build OR sell Apple compatible hardware.

You're going to need a thicker skin and stronger nerves to be in this business than you're showing here.