Apple loses exclusive rights to 'iPhone' trademark for non-smartphone products in China
Adding to the company's problems in the region, Apple has lost exclusivity on the use of the "iPhone" trademark in China, and must now share it with Beijing-based leather products maker Xintong Tiandi Technology, reports said on Tuesday.
On March 31, the Beijing Municipal High People's Court rejected an Apple appeal of an earlier ruling, according to Quartz. Xintong Tiandi is already selling a number of "IPHONE" products, including purses, passport cases, and most notably phone cases.
The company registered its trademark in China in 2007, the same year as the Apple iPhone launched in the United States. That was, however, still five years after Apple registered the iPhone name in China for computer products, something which formed the basis of a 2012 complaint to the country's trademark authorities.
In 2013 the government ruled that because Apple couldn't prove the name "IPHONE" was well-known prior to Xintong Tiandi's registration, the public wouldn't link its use in a way that would harm Apple interests. In rejecting Apple's appeal, the High People's Court further noted that the company didn't sell the iPhone in mainland China until 2009.
Apple has had a complicated relationship with Chinese government for some time. In 2012, for instance, it was ordered to pay $60 million in a trademark dispute over the term "iPad." Just this April, two of Apple's online storefronts -- iTunes Movies and the iBooks Store -- were shut down in China, reportedly by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. No reason was indicated, but the Chinese internet is regularly subject to censorship and other restrictions.
On top of this, Chinese revenues were down year-over-year in the March quarter, despite that region being vital to Apple's future. Apple CEO Tim Cook has tried to defend the slip as matter of perspective.
On March 31, the Beijing Municipal High People's Court rejected an Apple appeal of an earlier ruling, according to Quartz. Xintong Tiandi is already selling a number of "IPHONE" products, including purses, passport cases, and most notably phone cases.
The company registered its trademark in China in 2007, the same year as the Apple iPhone launched in the United States. That was, however, still five years after Apple registered the iPhone name in China for computer products, something which formed the basis of a 2012 complaint to the country's trademark authorities.
In 2013 the government ruled that because Apple couldn't prove the name "IPHONE" was well-known prior to Xintong Tiandi's registration, the public wouldn't link its use in a way that would harm Apple interests. In rejecting Apple's appeal, the High People's Court further noted that the company didn't sell the iPhone in mainland China until 2009.
Apple has had a complicated relationship with Chinese government for some time. In 2012, for instance, it was ordered to pay $60 million in a trademark dispute over the term "iPad." Just this April, two of Apple's online storefronts -- iTunes Movies and the iBooks Store -- were shut down in China, reportedly by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. No reason was indicated, but the Chinese internet is regularly subject to censorship and other restrictions.
On top of this, Chinese revenues were down year-over-year in the March quarter, despite that region being vital to Apple's future. Apple CEO Tim Cook has tried to defend the slip as matter of perspective.
Comments
Up for tomorrow: terrorism still happening, but with a friendlier media perspective.
Stay tuned.
If you're ready to pay for something and it is well designed, like an Iphone, Chinese made good are perfectly fine.
People don't realize how cheaper their goods are than they used to be.
If you pay your Appliances 1/5 the price as in the 1960s (in current money), then don't expect it to last as long.
If you pay for a $4000 for commercial grade stove-oven, it will last a hell of a long time and be top notch quality.
That's the thing people don't realize when they say that. There is no way to repatriate these things using just labor.
The skill pool is too low, the number of people that can be used on demand is too low too.
Unfortunately it's not so easy.
I think Apple is slowly doing just that. It takes time.
For me personally, just about everything I bought years past... tools, building supplies, etc.. that was made there may have been 1/2 the price of similar non-China products but they would break, fade, not-work, etc... The hassles, time, effort, gas spent to deal with their shitty products just had me paying twice as much for a non-Chinese product but I would only buy once and be done with it.
And yes, I DO spend a heck of a lot more for a quality item because I realized my time and effort has value than to be wasted in dealing with Chinese shit.
Some friends in my circle chime in with my buying "only the best", but change their tune when I explain the math on buying a quality item once and it being cheaper in the long run.
You want your $10 Chinese product that you know will fail in time, go right ahead. I accepted it, moved on and am much more happy because of it.
Products made in China for Apple are the exception to the rule, only because I know Apple has those vendors under a magnifying glass and will drop the hammer hard on them hard if they try to pass off garbage. I know if China really tried to screw with Apple's quality, love it or hate it, Apple will shut it down and move to another facility outside of China if it absolutely had to. China and Apple need each other and they both know it, but for all the other folks having to deal with China, they're just a bunch of scammers as far as I'm concerned.