Apple threatens Colombian mobile phone repairman with jail time

The man proposed a deal to the tech company to work in partnership and serve customers.

While many people are keeping an eye on Apple's launches and the arrival of the iPhone 15 in September, a mobile phone and technology repairer has become the centre of attention for the giant company in Colombia. At least this is how Wilmer Becerra's situation has been understood, which was made public on social networks.

According to the owner of the company 'Wiltech', he received a letter from the American law firm 'Baker McKenzie' and in it they indicate that they were representing Apple to make some requests and avoid reaching major legal instances.

"Apple has the exclusive right to use the Apple Marks, to allow its licensees and authorised resellers to use the Apple Marks, and to prevent others from using the Apple Marks without its consent," reads part of the document that the Colombian man posted on his social media profiles.

Although it seems far-fetched for a giant company to target a tech device repairman, the social media accounts of the Colombian's aforementioned company have significant numbers: More than 220,000 followers on Instagram, more than 6 million on Facebook, over 5 million on TikTok and 147,000 subscribers on YouTube.

His work became popular when he started doing repairs live, both with his customers in front of him and on digital platform broadcasts. In this way, he sought to guarantee the quality of his work and to ensure that the workmanship and spare parts he used were verified. The 'Wiltech' brand became better known online and has repair points in other countries in the Americas: Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico and Guatemala, according to their data.

This has aroused a lot of interest, we have to take with caution what Wilmer Becerra shared about the letter from Apple's lawyers and what he assumes they are asking from his business.

The quoted fragment explains that the conflict occurs because of the handling of the "Apple Trademarks", which includes the name of the company and its products, logos and images of technological equipment, as well as direct mentions of them in advertising pieces, promotional videos and network publications.

The letter also states that the penalty in Colombia would be "four (4) to eight (8) years in prison and a financial penalty". At no point do they explain that they are impeding the right to work or to repair technological elements of this or other companies in the market. But that is what the man implies in the Instagram post that accompanies the image.

In his message, Becerra asks the public whether it is a crime to repair technology items that Apple considers beyond repair, or whether the owner of the equipment should not be the one to decide whether to seek a repair and with whom to do it.

To close the subject for now, Wilmer Becerra shared what would have been his response to the Apple lawyers who contacted him: "Respected lawyers, tell your client that we better make an alliance between Apple and 'Wiltech' to offer a quality repair system for all Apple products that cannot be covered by warranty".

In interviews and testimonies he has given to the media, the Colombian has maintained the discourse and says that he has received support on social networks: "I have a community that supports me".