Danish man wins landmark case against Apple after five-year battle

Courts rules in David Lysgaard's favour over a replacement for faulty iPhone 4

Apple appealed the ruling but the Glostrup District Court sided with Mr Lysgaard (Apple)

A Danish man has won a landmark case against Apple after a five-year legal battle.

David Lysgaard has been embroiled in an ongoing dispute with the huge tech company over a replacement he was given for a faulty iPhone 4 he purchased in 2011.

Mr Lysgaard’s phone stopped working after a year and Apple agreed to give him a remanufactured phone which was listed as “good as new”.

The consumer complaints board agreed that under the Danish Sale of Goods Act, Mr Lysgaard was entitled to a brand new phone or his money back.

Apple appealed the ruling but the Glostrup District Court sided with Mr Lysgaard.

“After a comprehensive review, the court finds that David Lysgaard […] had a warranted expectation of receiving a brand-new product equivalent to the original purchase,” the court said, according to the Local.

“The remanufactured phone that David Lysgaard was given could contain reused modules so the phone cannot qualify as brand-new.”

Before the decision, Lysgaard told TV2 that he was nervous about taking on the company.

“One shakes a bit when you receive a summons from one of the world's biggest companies. That's not something you experience every day,” Lysgaard told TV2.

“But the more Apple stepped up, the more stubborn I became.

“It's about large companies needing to follow the laws that we have. It's also about how many other regular people in Denmark have been through something similar but have just ended up accepting that things are just as Apple says they are.”