Tel Aviv Court Halts Unauthorized Sale of Tineco Vacuum Cleaners by Importer

The Tel Aviv District Court issued a temporary injunction against Sh.A Premium Products, an importer who brought Tineco vacuum cleaners into Israel without authorization from the exclusive importer. Judge Amir Weitznblit ordered the seizure of three containers already arrived in Israel and banned their sale in stores and electrical retail chains. The injunction followed a request by Unico Retail, the official exclusive importer of Tineco products in Israel since 2020, owned by parent company OIG. Unico plans to file a financial lawsuit against Sh.A as well.

Unlike parallel imports, which the exclusive importer cannot block, this case involves goods purchased directly from the overseas supplier, ECOVACS GLOBAL PTE. LTD, violating the exclusive distribution agreement. The judge granted the injunction to prevent irreversible harm after Unico proved its exclusive distribution rights, citing potential damage to Unico’s reputation and business.

The court allowed the containers to be released from the port to avoid high storage costs but prohibited Sh.A from marketing, selling, or distributing the Tineco products from these shipments. Additionally, Sh.A was barred from presenting itself as the official or exclusive distributor of Tineco in Israel.

Unico demonstrated it signed exclusive distribution agreements with Tineco and ECOVACS since 2020, investing 36.4 million shekels in marketing and distribution over six years. The current agreement runs until January 2028. The dispute has a family dimension, as Sh.A’s owner’s son, Erez Aharoni, is a cousin of Itzik Gabay, CEO and controlling shareholder of Unico.

Unico alleges Sh.A knowingly violated the exclusivity by dealing directly with the supplier, presenting false claims, and attempting to import and sell Tineco products as an official distributor. Evidence includes Sh.A’s listing of a Tineco vacuum with Hebrew voice prompts on Super-Pharm’s website, which only official imports have. Shipping documents confirm the goods originated from ECOVACS, which acknowledged Unico’s exclusive distributorship and denied appointing any other distributor in Israel. Despite this, ECOVACS sold the products to Sh.A, breaching the contract with Unico.