Tech giant Apple Inc. has failed in its attempt to confiscate and destroy a batch of Ukrainian Gelius Pro Capsule 4 headphones, which the Cupertino company considered to be confusingly similar to its AirPods.
Tech giant Apple Inc. has failed in its attempt to confiscate and destroy a batch of Ukrainian Gelius Pro Capsule 4 headphones, which the Cupertino company considered to be confusingly similar to its AirPods.
Almost 1,500 Chinese wireless headphones were detained at customs following Apple's lawsuit against Ukrainian distributor Helius Import Distribution LLC. The Americans demanded that the import be blocked, the entire product be seized, and all goods be completely destroyed.
Ukrainian courts did not share Apple's fears.
The main battle: The Kyiv City Commercial Court denied Apple's claim. The tech giant appealed, but the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal left the decision unchanged. Gelius headphones survived.
Financial finale: On August 10, 2026, the court made an additional decision on legal costs. Since Apple lost the case, its own expertise for UAH 8,000 was burned, and the Apple company now owes compensation to the distributor Gelius.
The court ordered Apple Inc. to pay the Ukrainian company UAH 75,472.58 (about $1,800) — including UAH 50,472.58 for an expert examination and UAH 25,000 for attorneys' fees.
Gelius' lawyers asked for 50,000 for their services, but the judge decided that the case "is not of an exceptional nature and public interest," so he cut the price tag for legal assistance in half.
However, the bill for Ukrainian headphones for Cupertino turned out to be more expensive than they planned.
