Meizu in Trouble - Raided by German Police

Err0r · 03-05-2008

Just hours ago, Meizu's booth got raided by German Police at CeBIT. Their booth was closed down under a Meizu M8 demonstration and guests were told "the venue is closed until further notice." The Police also seized equipment and literature.

Tomorrow German Police will release a statement in regards to the action they took against Meizu.

UPDATE: According to forum posts by Meizu CEO Jack Wong, the raid was initiated by Sisvel due to the lack of a Sisvel (patent holder of MP3 format) license. He also said that the booth will be open again at 4 PM.

Thanks Juwie & Edu115!

DusL · 03-05-2008

This doesn't sound like good news and may endanger a global release for Meizu. They better not be breaking any patents with their booth. On the other side, german police probably waited until they had "something" to shut them down for.

Err0r · 03-05-2008

For one thing, I don't understand why they made the interface so similar to the iPhone. I was a little dissapointed. I wanted the M8 to be something unique, different. There are many iPhone clones being released in China, and they are getting better and better. It's sad to see the M8 go down the same path.

Secondly, I don't understand why they bring something like that to CeBIT. Anyone can see that the GUI design was heavily inspired by Apple iPhone.

The M8 has been getting a lot of publicity, even mainstream media has picked the story up. In the USA, it was even featured on the front page of Popular Science.

I guess all this publicity must have led to complaints to German Police, both from gadget enthusiasts and lawyers of Apple.

03-05-2008

This is really going to delay the release of the M8. I think Jack and his team will have some thinking to do for the future of this device.

They will either have to revamp the interface, or only release it in mainland China.
It would be hard to explain to their customer/parter (Dane-Elec) how this couldn't avoid any lawsuits once it's on US soil.

hotboxx · 03-05-2008

This is a extra reason to support Meizu. This is the ultimate proof that the M8 is a serious product and Apple tries everything to stop it, even dirty tricks. Since when is the German police staff from Apple?

KB79 · 03-05-2008

(My apologies for posting this twice, but thought it would be more at home in this thread)

Guys, you can't buy this kind of marketing! :D

The non-functioning, outdated prototype got seized. So what?!
If Meizu's lucky they get CNN or BBC World coverage.
Every one will know the brand name, along with the name M8.

Gratz to the marketing departement of Meizu for this little gem of product placement

KB79

midsommer · 03-05-2008

I do not think they (police) have waited for anything. It is quite normal for all fairs that they close down booths to avoid clones. Also the biggest fair on earth has to find money givers. And due to this, the fairs are highly sensitive to this (the big branch for normal spend the most money).

Meizu wrote in big letters not to be apple, they name their phone different, etc. They might have to change the icon design and arrangement (hopefully back to the vistaish style). I do not think any judge will sue meizu.

I think it is even a good ad. Meizu now got a lot of public attention - only reading through the German heise forum. They will have to sign, that they are not allowed to sell the phone as it is now, that's it.
Do not forget: until now meizu had not created any profit. So no one was harmed.

My advice to meizu: change the design back to some of the fan art mock ups (did I mentioned I absolutely dislike the iPhone gui, but like the vistaish? :D). find a global distributer (warranty), but avoid further problems.

nzomatrix · 03-05-2008

Does this have to do anything with Sisvel MP3 Codel license? I remember the Meizu M6 had some problem with that issue. And that was the reason they used Dane-Elec to distribute it in the U.S.

And also awhile back Sandisk booth was shutdown at IFA show in Berlin in a similar way.
Slashdot | SanDisk MP3 Players Seized in MP3 Licence Dispute

sere83 · 03-05-2008

unconfirmed reports coming from the chinese meizu forum are suggesting that it is not do do with an iphone copyright infringement. They are saying J.Wong said it is Nothing to do with the IPhone,but mp3 problems with SISVEL,Italy. We need to get someone over there to check it out.

midsommer · 03-05-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by KB79

(My apologies for posting this twice, but thought it would be more at home in this thread)

Guys, you can't buy this kind of marketing! :D

The non-functioning, outdated prototype got seized. So what?!
If Meizu's lucky they get CNN or BBC World coverage.
Every one will know the brand name, along with the name M8.

Gratz to the marketing departement of Meizu for this little gem of product placement

KB79

Fully agree:

But: we should force Meizu now to change the interface design to our desire

The iPhone interface + Icons su***.

So help Meizu in creating s.th. special!

@ Sere83: sound quite reasonable - that would definitely be a reason for the shut down. Hm - force Meizu to support only OGG with the shipment (yes also the videos) - it is better and the mp3 lame codec can be bought afterwards (it is WinCE)!