Chinese company wins lawsuit against Apple to use iPhone name

Xintong Tiandi is licensed to use the name "iphone" for products such as bags, wallets, and phone cases in the Chinese market.

The Beijing Intermediate People's Court in China has recently rejected Apple's appeal regarding the iPhone trademark dispute with Xintong Tiandi. "Apple" will not have exclusive rights to this name in the Chinese market alone. According to the country's trademark management agency, Xintong Tiandi is allowed to use the iPhone name for handbags, wallets and other leather products that are not phones.

Apple first registered the iPhone trademark in 2002 in the US, while Xintong Tiandi did the same in China in 2007. Apple first filed a lawsuit with China’s trademark office in 2012, but the rulings have so far gone against the company.

The court found that the iPhone had only been sold in China since 2009 and the name was not well known when Xintong Tiandi registered it.

This is not the first time Apple has lost a trademark battle in China. In 2012, a court ruled that Apple had to pay $60 million to a Shenzhen technology company to end a dispute over the iPad name.

According to VNE