Ruslan Kogan is in the dog house again. This time its with Samsung, who are demanding Kogan cease advertising its TV’s as containing Samsung panels. The TV maker has sent Kogan letter demanding it “cease and desist” from using the TV ads, according to emails seen by News Limited.
Kogan’s Technologies online ‘Brand Power’ ad’s claims his self manufactured sets are “made with the same components as the big brands” with LG and Samsung brands emblazoned across the screen, and claims Kogan TVs are the same as more pricey sets.
The ads also suggest the cheaper Kogan brand are exactly the same as big name brands, simply because they contain a panel component similar to rival sets.
“If you’re not buying Kogan, you’re paying too much,” the Brand Power ad states.
 Click to enlarge |
| Is this a Kogan or a Samsung LCD TV? |
Kogan says Samsung are trying to hide the raw truth that the inside of its branded sets are almost identical as non-branded TVs.
Kogan.com.au has listed a 46″ Full HD LCD TV with PVR, SRS Audio & “Samsung Panel” costing $609. A similar Samsung TV can cost anything from $1000 and over.
“The truth is that we do use big brand components in our TVs and Samsung should not be trying the hide the truth of what has been happening in our industry,” Ruslan Kogan told news.com.au.
Cheeky Kogan also says “Samsung actively supplies hundreds or even thousands of other brands with their components.”
This is true – Samsung are one of the biggest panel makers in the world and supply to major companies like Apple.
“We use Samsung’s logo solely to refer to the panel inside our TV and this is not a breach of their trademark, it is a statement of fact – we use Samsung panels in TVs,” Kogan added.
He also says he is prepared to take the matter to court.
However, Samsung feel differently. They say the ads imply Kogan’s TV is identical to a Samsung, when in fact this is not the case.
It uses just one similar component at most, and the use of the world “components” in the ad is also upsetting the panel maker, implying Kogan’s sets contain multiple parts made by Samsung.
The Kogan ads also imply the Melbourne based e-tailer has some affiliation with Samsung, the Koreans believe.
“The commercial’s use of the word ‘components’ represents that it is more than just one part of Kogan’s televisions that is the same as in Samsung televisions,” an email sent to Kogan from the panel maker states.
The electronics gaint has given Kogan until 4pm today to pull the ad otherwise it may take further action.
