• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, June 1, 2011

Last September, 17-year-old Queens, N.Y.-based Fei Lam began selling parts needed to create white iPhones without Apple's authorization.

Media reports said he took in $130,000 with the venture -- though the high school student says he didn't earn quite that much. When Lam started selling the kits, Apple didn't offer white iPhones.

In late April, however, Apple finally began selling white versions of its smartphone. Four weeks later, the company sued Fei Lam and his parents in federal court in the Eastern District of New York.

"Defendants were plainly aware of the existence and fame of Apple's trademarks, and of their value, and have intentionally and unlawfully misappropriated Apple's trademarks in order to profit from Apple's business and goodwill," Apple alleges. What's more the company says, the teen's initiative "causes confusion among customers who may think that Apple has authorized the sale of white iPhones or released front and white panels for the iPhones when in fact it has not."

Apple and the teen obviously reached a settlement because Apple filed papers dismissing the case the same day it was filed. The settlement terms aren't yet known, but resolving the case was probably the wise move. Even if Lam theoretically could have prevailed last September, before Apple made white iPhones, it seems extremely unlikely that the teen could win now.