Apple shuts down iPhone lookalike

Remember the M8? It's a smartphone made by Chinese manufacturer Meizu that looks suspiciously like an iPhone. And it's about to become a rare commodity.

Meizu CEO Jack Wong posted on a Meizu forum that Apple's lawyers have convinced China's intellectual property office to shut down production of the M8 and ban the sale of existing devices because they bear too much similarity to Apple's phone.

See also: Can you tell a fake iPad from the real deal? (photos)

It's not really a shock to anyone--and shouldn't be to Wong--that a product whose premise is its similarity to another more successful product is going to be the subject of a patent complaint. Especially when that company is one as powerful as Apple. The surprise is that it's taken this long--Meizu has a history of building gadgets that look strikingly similar to those coming out of Cupertino.

For more on this story, read Apple complaint halts sales of iPhone lookalike on CNET News.