Hannover (Germany) – How far can blatant product design piracy go? At least at Germany’s CeBit, a critical mark is crossed when such a device is showcased and marketed at the tradeshow.

According to a report by heise online, German Police shut down the booth of Meizu and confiscated all marketing collateral and MiniOne devices, a Windows CE-based clone of Apple’s iPhone. Meizu apparently isn’t the only manufacturer that is impacted by the initiative, as Police officials said they would announce details and apparently further booth closings on Thursday.  

The MiniOne is a surprisingly close copy, resembling not only the iPhone casing, but also its graphical user interface. The device is based on a 3.4” screen design, a 667 MHz ARM11 processor core, a 3 megapixel camera and GSM connectivity.

UPDATE - The booth is now open. Meizu reps say the closure was because of mp3 licensing issues and not because of their iPhone-looking device. 

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