It hasn’t all been polished aluminum and smiling sales people at this years IFA, with controversy stirring at a number of booths including the Hyundai IT stand. According to Reuters, German customs police raided the Hyundai IT booth on Saturday seizing a number of flat-screen televisions.
A German court had ruled that a number of East Asian and European firms were marketing unlicensed patented technology at the trade show. The court authorised 69 raids, which so far has seized 170 TVs, 140 digital audio players, 21 cell phones, and 57 DVD recorders from a wide range of stands.
The theft of trade secrets by foreign companies is a sensitive topic in Germany, which has an economy dependent on a research-intensive export sector.
IFA opened last Friday and is due to close tomorrow.
Source: Reuters
Hey Tazza! I was actually at the MSI stand when it got raided (for a patent issue with Sisvel), so that immediately made my IFA-day! However, I just thought someone had stole something from them, and never even thought about taking some shameless spectacular pictures. How was the Berlin tour? See you at some next event!
Hi Vikash! That’s amazing that you were actually there to witness this.
You should have grabbed a German customs police officer and asked if he could put down that large TV and give you a second for an interview :)
Yeah, I know, guess I was in too much of a hurry to see all the stands. Ah well, better luck at the next raid!