Apple Does Not Have Exclusive Rights To The ‘iPhone’ Name In China

Apple’s iPhone brand holds a lot of value, which means that there are plenty of people out there who are willing to exploit it to make a buck. Of course for the more educated consumer who does their research, they know a knock-off when they see one, but for the unsuspecting customer, it’s an entirely different story.

That being said, it seems that over in China there could be an increase in confusion amongst products. This is thanks to a China court ruling which has ruled that Apple does not have the exclusive rights to the “iPhone” name in the country, which means that leather goods maker Xintong Tiandi will be able to continue selling their leather phone cases which have been branded as “iPhone”, as you can see in the photo above.

Apple had originally filed for the trademark back in 2002, but it was only in 2013 that they were granted it. In the meantime Xintong Tiandi trademarked the name in 2010 and was granted it under Class 18: Leather Goods, while Apple filed theirs under Class 9: Electronic and Scientific Apparatus.

According to the Chinese company, they claim that this ruling is a reflection of the “free market”, and if the translation is any accurate, it seems that they might want to rub it in Apple’s faces. “We will also make full achievement of the ‘iphone’ trademark, and work together [with Apple] to benefit more iphone consumers.”

That being said, this isn’t the first time that Apple has had to fight for their name. Several years ago, the company lost the right to the iPhone trademark in Brazil, and let’s not forget the little spat that they had with Chinese company Proview over the iPad name.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: China, iPhone, Legal