Customs and Border Protection officers in Cincinnati seized 36,000 counterfeit headphones resembling Apple AirPods, which arrived in large shipments from China.
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The fake AirPods, which were recovered last Tuesday and Thursday, were in violation of trademark and copyright codes, the agency said in a news release. The headphones came in packages labeled as “Elite Pods,” each of which included a case and two pods similar to the product sold by Apple.
“Counterfeit products can be deceiving at first glance,” Cincinnati Port Director Richard Gillespie said. “They’re often cheaper and can appear very similar to the real thing.”
Apple’s trademark protection says that a product does not have to invoke the brand name on a counterfeit product, but any replication of its shape and design could also be in violation of a company’s copyrights.
CBP officers recovered three shipments of the product, each of which contained 12,000 fake AirPods. The agency said each package was valued at $5,280, and they were addressed to a location in Dayton, Kentucky.
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If the packages contained authentic AirPods, the headphones in their entirety would be worth over $7 million, as suggested by Apple’s retail price.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Apple for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
