According to a new report, Apple Inc. is planning to shut down two stores in North Texas in order to avoid patent troll lawsuits. The report further also adds that locations at Apple Willow Bend in Plano and Apple Stonebriar in Frisco by mid-April will be the major highlights. The Eastern District of Texas is well-known for its patent cases and per US law, patent lawsuits can be filed in places where the defendant “has a regular and established place of business.” By closing its two stores in the Eastern district, Apple supposedly planning to protect itself from those suits.
There is no doubt that it’s an apparently drastic yet brilliant move by Apple to protect itself from lawsuits, but considering that these lawsuits can carry more than half a billion dollars for the company, it’s easy to see why Apple would be willing to do all it can to avoid them. In the mid of 2017, an IP litigation research organization advised Apple to think about the revenues of its retail locations, suggesting that it was unnecessarily subjecting itself to unfavorable courts outside its home state.
With over 500 retail stores worldwide, Apple’s opening or closing plans for individual stores typically aren’t noteworthy, but the company appears to have a curious motive behind the closure of two locations in eastern Texas: Now, the closures will remove business operations that fall within the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Also Read : Amazon’s Dash Buttons are No More!
Visiting to Appe stores is really a great experience for the customers. Some of the customers aren’t happy to listen the news that stores in the Willow Bend Mall in Plano and Stonebriar Mall in Frisco will close on April 12, 2019. Quinn Curtis, a citizen from Plano said, “Yeah, I was disappointed because Stonebriar Mall is a famous mall for Apple and I usually go to that mall.”
In a statement, Cupertino based high-tech giant Apple Inc. stated, “We’re making a major investment in our stores in Texas, including significant upgrades to North Park Center, Southlake, and Knox Street. With a new Dallas store coming to the Dallas Galleria this April, we’ve made the decision to consolidate stores and close Apple Stonebriar and Apple Willow Bend.” The new store at the Galleria Mall will open April 13, so this is also an exciting news for the customers who live there.
Providentially, there is also some news are buzzing around about plans for the current employees on the store. This move is not too detrimental for employees. One source said Apple has offered employees opportunities to transfer to other stores, work from home for AppleCare, or severance to those who are not interested or comfortable in working at another Apple locations. Employees were briefed about the plans earlier this week.
Apple did not provide any other reason for the store closures beyond consolidation. With this move, it would be great to see that how Apple is going to expand its reach and attract wide user base again.
