I'm sure more than a few people outside of the US have considered importing an iPhone, particularly now that the handset can be unlocked in a relatively straightforward manner; that's just what a German Apple fan (and general early-adopter) decided to do, buying a handset off of eBay and waiting excitedly for it to arrive. Unfortunately, customs seem to have had different ideas.
While at the customs office to pay the import duty, on hearing that the iPhone wasn't officially available in Germany the officers there refused to hand over the cellphone, claiming it was "an infringement of the trademark right."
Calls to Apple US, Apple Europe, the Apple US Export Chief and Apple Germany uncovered no apparent reason why importing the handset should be prevented:
"ALL of them told me that there is no reason why Apple would "prohibit" or "prevent" people from importing the iPhone to Germany"
However, no Apple representative was willing to provide written confirmation of that fact, leaving the iPhone just out of reach until German customs decide that trademark rights are safe from this particular case of injustice.
Wow I’m struck by the tragedy :-( I was about to do the same thing, but now I’ll probably fly over and smuggle it in, that’s probably safer. Great job, german customs!
how is that german officials (with, um, that messy rule-of-law problem in their history) could make a summary judgement about trademark law?!
did they cite any jurisprudence as the foundation for their authority?
probably not.
just an arbitrary interpretation by a bureaucrat.
national incidents like this reinforce the appeal of the EU — it provides a bulwark to protect personal property rights against the caprice of functionaries.
of course, we shouldnt be too surprise after all — it was germany.