The Norwegian owner of a smartphone repair company has lost the case brought against him by Apple over importing iPhone screens. The man has to pay Apple converted 23,305 euros.
Henrik Huseby, the man who single-handedly runs smartphone repair shop PCKompaniet, was heard last week by the Norwegian Supreme Court in the case brought against him by Apple. The court rules that iPhone screens imported by Huseby from Hong Kong infringe Apple’s trademark. The man has to destroy the screens and pay Apple 247,600 crowns, converted 23,305 euros.
Huseby calls the statement “a joke.” “They swallowed all of Apple’s lies and speculation.” He believes the judgment gives Apple more power and expresses the expectation that other companies will now follow Apple and continue to make non-repairable devices. The repairman had launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the case. In doing so, he had collected almost six thousand euros. He thanks the people who support him and apologizes that the money goes to Apple.
The organization Right to repair Europe is disappointed in the verdict. “With this decision, Apple continues to deny independent repair services access to refurbished or aftermarket spare parts.” Right to repair Europe wants measures to be taken so that other companies do not suffer the fate of PCKompaniet. The organization will urge the European Commission to uphold the promise of a ‘right to repair’ in the Circular Economy Action Plan. The organization has been filing a petition for a repair right with regard to smartphones for some time.
Restarters Norway, a Norwegian organization that champions the right to repair, has spoken out against the ruling, reporting that Apple is actually encouraging citizens to buy new products rather than repair them. The organization also reports that the prices at the twenty authorized Apple repairers are so high that repair is often not worth it. “It should be easier and cheaper to repair than to buy new, but this judgment contributes to the contrary.”
Apple sued PCKompaniet for importing 67 iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S displays through a Hong Kong trader. They offered them as ‘refurbished screens manufactured by a third party’. Apple found that its trademark had been infringed because the screens had Apple logos on them. Henrik Huseby pointed out that the logos were scratched through with a permanent marker and that the products were not marketed as Apple products.
According to Right to repair Europe, Asian companies remove the glass from genuine Apple screens and put a new third-party glass plate on it. Apple lets customs intercept these products on the grounds of trademark infringement. Because Apple does not supply authentic parts to independent repairers, only to official resellers, the independent companies are left with the choice between poor quality counterfeit or the refurbished parts such as Huseby bought. In 2019, Apple promised to come up with an independent repair program that will provide independent repair companies with spare parts and repair tools for the iPhone.
In 2018, Huseby won against Apple in a Norwegian court, but lost the appeal at the Supreme Court.