Unbox Therapy accused of copying PITAKA phone case, copyright abuse & fake giveaways

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

 Update : A Non-Apology 

4 minutes ago, Rohith_Kumar_Sp said:

Update : backpedaling but it's alright.  but still avoids all the unethical things he did about from removing the videos to striking videos. avoids talking about the lies he told about saying he contacted with them to partner. my problem was never that he made a case that looked like someone else but rather how he behaved on the situation trying to pull everything under the rug. 
 

 

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On Saturday, one of YouTube’s largest tech channels, Unbox Therapy, released a new phone case – the Latercase.

Shortly after the release of the Latercase, Unbox Therapy was accused of copying the phone cases made by phone accessory company PITAKA. These initial accusations has now erupted into a controversy where videos have been hidden and copyright claims have been filed.

Much of the controversy has centered around whether Unbox Therapy made the case, copied the case, or adapted a pre-existing case from Chinese wholesaler Alibaba.

 

Unbox Therapy host Lewis Hilsenteger (Lew) says that he worked with a factory to make the Latercase. In the launch video for the case, Lew uses the tagline: “I don’t like phone cases, so I went out and made one.”

 

PITAKA accuses Unbox Therapy of copying its cases
Shortly after the release of the Latercase, PITAKA CEO James Zheng accused Unbox Therapy of copying phone cases made by his company.

Zheng said that he and his company want an apology from Unbox Therapy and nothing else.

 

Unbox Therapy's The Latercase:

 

 

 

PITAKA's MagEZ case:

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Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser then researched the differences between the cases and concluded that there are “slight, very, very slight differences” between the Latercase and PITAKA’s cases. However, he noted that the case is very similar to this product on Alibaba.
Prosser also discovered that on the same day that Unbox Therapy released the Latercase, 4.5 million video views were also removed from the Unbox Therapy YouTube channel, according to SocialBlade stats.

This means that the day before the release of the Latercase, Unbox Therapy had deleted or made private (hidden from the public) one or more videos on its channel.

Further investigation from Prosser revealed that one of the two videos that had been made private featured a PITAKA case.

 

Read more:

https://reclaimthenet-org.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/reclaimthenet.org/unbox-therapy-latercase-pitaka-case-controversy/

[williamcll]

I'll let the court decides this one.

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

Lee : don't buy iPhones they're costly/i don't like phone cases. 

Also lew : here's an 11$ case for 45$. I made this. 

[Lathlaer]

10 minutes ago, williamcll said:

I'll let the court decides this one.

I just hope it will not end up like Caselabs against Thermaltake.

 

(Yes, that is an extreme example of how relying on court decision to form your opinion can be misleading ;-))

[Arika]

as soon as i saw the video, my first response was: "he did not make this..."

[porina]

Wow, this sounds like a mess. Without getting my head around all the claims I guess I have to write carefully.

 

My first thought is, if you're going to make a case for a phone, there's only some many points of variation that are possible. Similarities will be inevitable. The question then is, how do you draw a line between a close copy, an "inspired by", or they look similar because that's the only practical way to do it?

[mr moose]

 

There are only so many ways to make a phone case The ms phone made by nokia had cases just like those years ago (I still have one).  I would also delete videos I made of a product if that company was out to shit on my products (even if they are cheap chinese generic shit).   

 

All we need to know is are they actually copies of anything or is it just another case of everyone getting their shit from china so it looks the same and this pitaka company got their balls knitted up over this one?

 

I don't like unbox therapy and haven't watched in a while, but I'm going to wait for actual evidence of wrong doing before I hang him out to dry.

 

 

[captain_to_fire]

4 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

• On Saturday, Unbox Therapy, released phone case – the Latercase.
• Shortly after the release they were accused of copying the phone cases made by phone accessory company PITAKA, alleging design theft or adaptation of chinese-produced copies.

No wonder another tech YouTube channel spilled some tea about Lew 

https://youtu.be/n_fcDx2wSmA?t=54

 

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

1 hour ago, VegetableStu said:

for those wondering who the heck is Prosser and what he has to do with all of these:

dude, don't blindly copy/quote the article into the OP, lol ._.

 

EDIT: geez they're even out of order too

Editing on phone is hard AF But i did try to quote function on chrome app which broke tweets, gave up. 

[AtomicFrance]

First, it began with a tweet:

 

 

Than a video was published to Lew's main channel

 

 

However, astute observers noticed that this case seemed extremely similar to one previously reviewed by Lew, the Pitaka Aramid case. That video has since been taken down from Unbox Therapy's channel. You can see the impact on his Socialblade page here.

 

 

Pitaka themselves, also noticed, issuing a statement on the Unbox Therapy case design.  (https://www.ipitaka.com/blogs/news/statement-on-the-unbox-therapy-phone-case-yes-it-is-a-copycat)

 

<Removed quoted article. Do not just copy and paste entire articles. Link to article is above.>

Edited December 6, 2019 by Spotty
Removed excessive quote

[AtomicFrance]

Unbox Therapy used to be one of my favorite Tech Tubers, giving what was oftentimes a first look at new phones on the market and the occasional nifty gadget. 

 

But after this? I think it's safe to say Lew has no real integrity. 

[NumLock21]

Is the copying just the pattern design of the case, or down to the materials being used?

[AtomicFrance]

Just now, gabrielcarvfer said:

Seems like both design and materials.

They're both made of Aramid. 

[AtomicFrance]

Good summary video for those that don't want to read through everything. 

 

Includes Skype conversation with Pitaka CEO.

[Arika]

 

can even see when the Pitaka Case Review video was deleted

 

EDIT: i would have believed that he may not have known it was the same design since individuals dont just make phone cases and mass produce them, but the fact that he deleted or hid the original video means he knew that it was a copy

 

[Rune]

Scumbag.

[Drak3]

Just now, Rune said:

Scumbag.

No need to insult scumbags by comparing them to this douche canoe.

[Taf the Ghost]

1 hour ago, NumLock21 said:

Is the copying just the pattern design of the case, or down to the materials being used?

It actually looks more like Unbox Therapy is simply rebranding an already knock-off version available off the Chinese distributors. It might be a spec order with slight changes, but it's really quite a lot like the Souja-console from a bit ago.

[Spotty]

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[SenKa]

Is it accusation if it's fact?

[Guest]

19 hours ago, Rohith_Kumar_Sp said:

Lee : don't buy iPhones they're costly/i don't like phone cases. 

Also lew : here's an 11$ case for 45$. I made this. 

Coming soon from Soulja Boy 

[amdorintel]

18 minutes ago, Taf the Ghost said:

Unbox Therapy is simply rebranding an already knock-off version available off the Chinese distributors.

that happens all the time

i am sure unbox therapy wanted easy cash, so they did not make anything, just simply chose a case and bought them wholesale to jack up the prices.

 

funny thing is china can take unbox therapy to court and have a field day

good luck vice versa

[amdorintel]

3 minutes ago, Tony Tony Chopper said:

Looks like a dbrand skin if you ask me.

it most likely is

 

and its probably a counterfeit piece made with toxic materials

[Blademaster91]

7 minutes ago, amdorintel said:

funny thing is china can take unbox therapy to court and have a field day

good luck vice versa

Can they really? I thought China didn't care about copyright laws.

But this is all just accusations to stir up drama, we don't know for sure if Unbox Therapy just bought cases from a supplier in China, or if they actually copied a design. If someone can sue for a similar looking case then dbrand should sue for everyone else for making vinyl device skins.

[amdorintel]

an outsider of china, going into china to sue a chinese company/org/govt is a hopeless cause, a waste of time.

 

a china corp, sueing a usa corp happens all the time, doesnt even need to be a legitimate cause, maybe chinese corp lawyers arent busy so why not keep them busy and hope for a settlement. maybe thats not the goal, maybe the goalof the chinese corp is defamation.