Recently Apple was faced with a problem wherein the exclusive rights the company had to the iPhones name was lost by them. This means that now other companies in China can use the name for their products for other products that are made from leather. The company stated that they would appeal to the Supreme People’s Court which in the Chinese law system is the highest court.
The initial ruling was a disappointment for the company considering that the company had defended its rights successfully in cases with the manufacturing company Xintong that manufacturers iPhone bags. In China, the subject of many trademark trials refers to the name of the iPhone. In 2007, XTT also had filed the trademark for their leather goods to carry the name of the iPhone.
Apple’s intention is to appeal on the ruling, in a statement that was said by Apple via the South China Morning Post the company requested the Supreme People’s Court for a retrial and also went ahead to state that they would continue to put in the efforts in protecting their trademark rights.
The statement also spoke about how the company was disappointed with the fact that Xintong was allowed to use the mark of the iPhone for their leather goods by the Beijing Higher People’s Court, they also went on to say that the against Xintong, there have been other cases that have been prevailed by the company.
The appeal cases that were made previously by the company did not come in their favor. The Chinese Government had passed the ruling stating that the time when Xintong had filed its claim, the brand of iPhones was not that popular in the region. While in 2007, the iPhone had been introduced by Apple, however it was only in 2009 that the company had launched the iPhones in China.
