Snapshot of a trademark application on the state trademark authority's website
The trademark "IPHONE" is no longer exclusively used by Apple Inc, but can now also be used by a Chinese wallet and billfold maker following Apple's recent loss of a trademark dispute case.
The Beijing High People's Court affirmed the Beijing First Intermediate People's Court's ruling against Apple's appeal on March 31, insisting that the trademark filed in 2007 under catalogue 18 - which allows Xintong Tiandi Technology Co to produce IPHONE-branded items such as leather products, suitcases and umbrellas - is legitimate.
Xiong Zhi, lawyer for Xintong Tiandi Technology Co, also known as IPHONE Luxury Leather, told the Global Times on Wednesday that his client has reached an informal agreement with a Swedish designer to design new products and does not rule out the possibility of producing new products using the IPHONE trademark.
Apple filed an objection after the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce announced its first review of the trademark filed by Xintong, and it resorted to litigation in the two Beijing courts after trademark authorities approved the leather goods maker's application.
Beijing First Intermediate People's Court ruled against Apple, arguing that the evidence the company presented does not prove Apple gained significant consumer awareness of the IPHONE trademark before Xintong filed the application in 2007.
This is not the first time that Apple has been involved in trademark disputes in China. Information on 141 iPhone-related trademark applications could be found at the website of the Trademark Office. Most were filed by Apple, but several came from other individuals and companies. One Guangzhou company's application featuring Apple's trademark fruit with a bite taken from the left side was denied by authorities in 2012.
