After reporting that local police forces are now able to unlock up-to-date iPhones and bypass all encryption, Motherboard today has yet published another report that’s related to iPhones, but the topic in this time is focus on the rights to repair your own devices.
To start, we need to know what exactly has happened. Last year, Apple is being informed that an electronics repair shop in Norway uses aftermarket iPhone screens to repair iPhones, the company has sent a letter to the shop owner, Henrik Huseby demanding him to stop using unauthorized parts, and asked him to sign an agreement not to “manufacture, import, sell, or otherwise” deal with any products that infringe Apple’s trademarks.
As it turns out, Huseby refused to do so, instead, he decided to fight the case. Apple in the time had five lawyers working on the case against Huseby. But guess what, Huseby won the case! In response, Apple appealed the results, in the meantime, Huseby is waiting for the court to accept the appeal.
The court decided that Norwegian law “does not prohibit a Norwegian mobile repair person from importing mobile screens from Asian manufacturers that are 100 percent compatible and completely identical to Apple’s own iPhone screens, so long as Apple’s trademark is not applied to the product.”
However, it should be note here that such case will only be relevant to Norway, in other word, the lawsuit should be of interest to other independent repair shops around the globe that may face similar situations with Apple. For instance, in the U.S., Apple has teamed up with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to seize counterfeit parts in the United States and to raid the shops of independent iPhone repair professionals.
Thoughts?
