Canon and Amazon Filed a Joint Trademark Infringement Lawsuit

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I buy batteries from B&H. I would never buy one from Amazon because of the counterfeiting. I hope they convince them that its going to cost them dearly. Sellers who buy "Cannon" batteries for bargain prices in China and then send them to Amazon to sell on prime. Inventory of the same object is co-mingled so a buyer gets a battery supplied by someone different than he thought. Amazon started laser marking a code on items so they can identify the seller if it turns out to be counterfeit. They can and will be caught.

 

[LSXPhotog]

This is HUGE news. I haven't bought a single Canon battery from Amazon because of how notorious they are for being counterfeit. It will be nice to use them to order batteries from them out of convenience.

 

[neuroanatomist]

It will be nice to use them to order batteries from them out of convenience.

They sued 29 sellers. I'd be surprised if there aren't many more, and surprised if this lawsuit will dissuade all of them. It's like whack-a-mole. Personally, I'll stick with B&H or Adorama for batteries.

 

[Canon Rumors Guy]

I had to buy new memory cards recently, I was still rolling with 16gb and 32gb Sandisk cards. I ordered new cards directly from Angelbird. Whenever I want an M.2 drive, I order directly from Samsung. Batteries... most of the time it's in-store (Leica Store/Fotocason) or B&H online. RAM? always directly from Corsair or Crucial. Ink tanks and toner? Always directly from Canon.

I think the problem is more widespread than people think or quite frankly know. People like us pay close attention to most everything in our little industry, but too many do not.

 

[koenkooi]

I had to buy new memory cards recently, I was still rolling with 16gb and 32gb Sandisk cards. I ordered new cards directly from Angelbird. Whenever I want an M.2 drive, I order directly from Samsung. Batteries... most of the time it's in-store (Leica Store/Fotocason) or B&H online. RAM? always directly from Corsair or Crucial. Ink tanks and toner? Always directly from Canon.

I think the problem is more widespread than people think or quite frankly know. People like us pay close attention to most everything in our little industry, but too many do not.

At a previous job we ordered 4GB Kingston microSD cards in bulk every month, straight from Kingston and still received counterfeits every now and then. In one case it was the label printing department that was making some extra money, in another case it was Kingston themselves, accidentally swapping labels between 2 different performance tiers.

The situation isn't helped by companies reusing SKUs, labels and packaging when refreshing the product.

 

[Antono Refa]

maybe you right... but hard believe, really hard believe...

If Amazon thought this is not a real problem, they wouldn't have paid their lawyers to join Canon in the lawsuit.

 

[blanddragon]

Much like the right to repair fight, crippling charging in the R5 to only work with Canon batteries really pisses me off. At the speed their batteries discharge you need several to get though a full day of shooting. At $80 US it's just not affordable to use their branded items.

 

[Canon Rumors Guy]

At a previous job we ordered 4GB Kingston microSD cards in bulk every month, straight from Kingston and still received counterfeits every now and then. In one case it was the label printing department that was making some extra money, in another case it was Kingston themselves, accidentally swapping labels between 2 different performance tiers.

The situation isn't helped by companies reusing SKUs, labels and packaging when refreshing the product.

Wow, that's insane. How do you combat that as a consumer? Hopefully Kingston did right by you.

 

[EOS 4 Life]

Wow, that's insane. How do you combat that as a consumer? Hopefully Kingston did right by you.

That is the Global Supply Chain at work.
Local laws can only protect people who notice.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Much like the right to repair fight, crippling charging in the R5 to only work with Canon batteries really pisses me off. At the speed their batteries discharge you need several to get though a full day of shooting. At $80 US it's just not affordable to use their branded items.

Right to repair. Well, the voters in Massachusetts agreed with that right. I can use an app on my iPhone to remote start my 2020 vehicle. More importantly, if I am in a severe accident and unable to call for help, emergency services will be automatically dispatched to my location. Thanks to the right to repair legislation, I can't use that app to remote start my 2023 vehicle from the same manufacturer, though I could if I'd bought it in any of the other 49 states. I now have the right to repair my car at any local mechanic, and also the right to lay there bleeding out after an accident waiting for help that won't come. Yay.

 

[garyknrd]

I only buy used Canon cameras. Only after market flashed and batteries. Never had one problem. My lenses are bought in countries where the exchange rate is good against the US dollar. Again never had a problem. Had one problem with an after market battery, but then again I also had one Canon batterie fail. I guess they were Canon they had it written on them.

 

[koenkooi]

Wow, that's insane. How do you combat that as a consumer? Hopefully Kingston did right by you.

Kingston was very helpful each time, since tracing back from us to them to find the problem is a lot easier than tracing it through amazon

Having a well functioning and thorough QA process is a blessing, but does add to the price per unit.

 

[AlanF]

Much like the right to repair fight, crippling charging in the R5 to only work with Canon batteries really pisses me off. At the speed their batteries discharge you need several to get though a full day of shooting. At $80 US it's just not affordable to use their branded items.

You saw my mail about the ludicrous $144 price in the UK. The good news is that my cheap Neewer batteries are fully recognised by the R5 and are charged in the camera. They hold their charge, and I now recycle 4 canon and 3 Neewer batteries between my 2 bodies. Ironically, the only one dropped to 2 bars is one of my original Canons.

 

[AlanF]

Right to repair. Well, the voters in Massachusetts agreed with that right. I can use an app on my iPhone to remote start my 2020 vehicle. More importantly, if I am in a severe accident and unable to call for help, emergency services will be automatically dispatched to my location. Thanks to the right to repair legislation, I can't use that app to remote start my 2023 vehicle from the same manufacturer, though I could if I'd bought it in any of the other 49 states. I now have the right to repair my car at any local mechanic, and also the right to lay there bleeding out after an accident waiting for help that won't come. Yay.

Why did you buy from that car manufacturer?

 

[koenkooi]

Why did you buy from that car manufacturer?

Internet suggests "Driving a rugged Subaru through snowy weather is a rite of passage for some New Englanders, whose region is a top market for the Japanese automaker."

 

[neuroanatomist]

Why did you buy from that car manufacturer?

Internet suggests "Driving a rugged Subaru through snowy weather is a rite of passage for some New Englanders, whose region is a top market for the Japanese automaker."

More than a rite of passage. Our driveway has an 11% grade, and we've had friends who drive a variety of other makes (Honda, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, etc.) try to make it up with snow on the pavement and fail, they roll back down and end up walking up instead. Meanwhile, our Subarus cruise right up grade and into the garage. When you're coming home in the snow with a load of groceries and/or kids, being able to pull into your garage is a good thing.

Since we're on this tangent, finding a plow service was a challenge. The first 4-5 guys who came out to give an estimate just said, "Nope." The guy who plows our driveway has a big truck (and sometimes still has trouble and has to clear part of it by hand first).

 

[Canon Rumors Guy]

That is the Global Supply Chain at work.
Local laws can only protect people who notice.

I did have a car that required a global recall to have every engine they had ever made for the model checked. The factory in Italy that made the head gaskets mislabelled them, as the engine was shared across a couple of models, but subtle differences, one was the head gasket. They had no way to know which head gasket went where. For about 6 months, a small percentage of engines were failing within 1-6 months of driving off the lot. Mislabelling is definitely with us forever.

 

[shadowsports]

I post regularly on the Canon Community. We see posts about this stuff on a weekly basis. Melting, bursting batteries, cards that cannot be read or written to. Inks and toners that produce inaccurate colors or that don't work reliably, etc. The message is always the same. Buy from an authorized dealer.

 

[AlanF]

More than a rite of passage. Our driveway has an 11% grade, and we've had friends who drive a variety of other makes (Honda, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, etc.) try to make it up with snow on the pavement and fail, they roll back down and end up walking up instead. Meanwhile, our Subarus cruise right up grade and into the garage. When you're coming home in the snow with a load of groceries and/or kids, being able to pull into your garage is a good thing.

Since we're on this tangent, finding a plow service was a challenge. The first 4-5 guys who came out to give an estimate just said, "Nope." The guy who plows our driveway has a big truck (and sometimes still has trouble and has to clear part of it by hand first).

I've done my rite of passage driving in Boston for year, shovelling snow from driveways etc. And, I am too polite to talk about Mass drivers.

 

[koenkooi]

I post regularly on the Canon Community. We see posts about this stuff on a weekly basis. Melting, bursting batteries, cards that cannot be read or written to. Inks and toners that produce inaccurate colors or that don't work reliably, etc. The message is always the same. Buy from an authorized dealer.

And then inspect it as best as you can, inside the return window!