You may recall the recent story of a blogger who documented a fake Apple Store in the city of Kunming, China which quickly led to international exposure for a wide array of such outlets. Now, as quickly as they came, authorities in Kunming have closed up shop on 22 such stores in the city.
TechWorld is reporting that the city of Kunming, China has shut down 22 phony Apple Stores after Apple Inc. filed a complaint with authorities there for the illegal use of the company’s iconic trademarks. The faux outlets were ordered to close their doors by August 10, including “any decorative logos found on door entrances and clothes.” Not surprisingly, all 22 outlets complied with the demand.
“Kunming authorities found 20 unauthorized Apple resellers, according to a Friday posting made on the city government's website,” the report reveals. “Currently, 11 of those resellers are being investigated. Two other stores were discovered for related violations.”
Apple Inc. filed a complaint with Kunming authorities on August 2, according to the government posting, and the city has moved swiftly to close the doors on the phony outlets which were ironically selling real Apple merchandise -- not the knockoffs frequently sold across China.
All of this unwanted attention for these fake Apple Stores started with a posting on the BirdAbroad blog back on July 20 which first shed light on the unauthorized outlets. Apple currently has only four official retail stores in China, with two located in Shanghai and another pair in Beijing, where long lines have formed for the launch of recent devices such as the iPhone 4 and iPad 2.
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(Image courtesy of BirdAbroad.com)
