Apple Forced to Share 'iPhone' Trademark in China With Leather Accessory Maker [Updated]

[69Mustang]

Apple should start moving manufacturing out of China if the Chinese want to play these games with Apple. I'm sure Venesulanians would be happy to make iPhones.

Position of power. Apple doesn't have it. What if Apple did as you say? I can pretty much guarantee China's answer would be a sales ban of rare earth elements to any company or country that tries to manufacture Apple's products. No rare earths, no shiny new iProducts. Dealing with China is a deal with the devil. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Pretty sure you can guess who controls the world market on rare earth elements.

... Why not move everything over to I dunno... Vietnam, India, Thailand, Indonesia...etc? I see zero point in supporting China if they're just CONSTANTLY gonna have this 'hahaha western puppets... we are superior' approach to business.

Shut down the factories, halt their expansion and force them to cooperate. I'm sure we could teach China to play fair or spend some time in the sinbin.

Apple couldn't teach them a lesson even if they wanted to do so. Apple shutting down factories would only hurt Apple and the factory workers, not the Chinese gov't. We already know they don't care about the people so the job losses wouldn't even phase the gov't. Apple couldn't provide new products so they lose money. They lose money, the stock tanks. The stock tanks... you see where I'm going. Nowhere in that scenario does Apple hurt the Chinese gov't.

I think we're so used to Apple dealing with vendors from a position of power that we mistakenly think they can deal with governments the same way. The Chinese gov't is not GT Advance. They never take off their Big Boy Pants.
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I'm with the Chinese courts on this one. Their argument seems sound. Not everything the Chinese do is bad. Not everything Apple does is right.

Rather than running to the courts, wasting time and money, Apple should have bought the company, or at least done a deal with it. It has infinitely much money in the bank that it doesn't want to send back to the US for fear of paying taxes.

Every company isn't for sale, no matter the money Apple has. Also the Chinese gov't probably wouldn't have let it happen anyway.

 

[jonnysods]

Man China are sticking it to Apple these days!!

 

[Jimmy James]

This seems like a great leap forward.

 

[MH01]

Apple has invested heavily in China, and they have to learn how to do things the Chinese way. While they can be smug in the US and Europe, they learn when they have to bow in China. Given as $$$ is the highest priority , when Tim is told to jump , he says how high, as he knows he is not going to win court cases in China . Also China is worth too M I is sales for Apple, loosing any markert share there would result in big sales hits, which I'm sure Tim wants to avoid with the current figures.

Apple is also not alone, all companies need to learn to do business the Chinese way.

 

[one more]

What's an issue? It's a free advertising for iPhones in a country where Apple would like to increase iPhone's market share. How can it hurt Apple anyway?

 

[kdarling]

Apple retains the computer software and hardware rights to the iPhone trademark, but with the new ruling, Xintong Tiandi can continue to manufacture and sell its "IPHONE" branded cases to the Chinese public.

This is similar to the way it works in the USA, too. Trademarks are by product category.

So, for example, Wile E. Coyote could trademark Acme for dynamite, and you could trademark Acme for phone cases, because no buyer is going to confuse the two. But you likely couldn't trademark Acme for other explosives.

During the 1980s (maybe even earlier), some people were speculating that someday people would walk around with a computer in their pocket, possibly with a communication function. After the release of the iPod and with the growing proliferation of mobile phones in the world, Steve and his team knew that day was getting closer. iPhone seemed like a logical name for their next big thing which was in the planning stage of course at that time.

"i-anything" was popular in the 1990s because of the Internet and interactive games, so people trademarked just about every variation. Heck, the first trademark in the US for "iPHONE" was in 1994, by a guy selling telecom services.

Of course, everyone here seems to have forgotten that when Apple brought out the "iPhone" in 2007, Cisco actually had the US trademark on that spelling for a phone... a trademark which Jobs more or less bullied Cisco into giving up to Apple without any payment.

It's pretty hard to have sympathy for Apple in this case, considering their own theft of the name in the US.

 

[WigWag Workshop]

I am thinking, a rename of the iPhone to Apple Phone, along with the iPad. Apple Watch, AppleTV, Apple Phone, Apple Pad.

 

[comics addict]

This seems like a great leap forward.

Ha!, I see what you did there.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

At least sharing it is better than completely losing it.

 

[acidsoul]

I don't really understand why Apple appealed, this may be the first ruling for the trademark in alphabets, but Apple doesn't own the trademark for iPhone in Japanese characters so the ads and websites in Japan have a disclaimer that it's owned by a doorbell company. Seems like almost the same thing here.

 

[duffman9000]

Apple will not work with this company. Maybe the CEO of that company is smoking some polluted crack to think otherwise.

 

[Oops]

Apple over there like.

 

[jayisblessed]

China seems to hate apple

No no no. You got it wrong! It is the CCP that hates Apple. Except for that cancer, all Chinese people love Apple and the USA!!!
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Apple, like the rest of the world so badly and desperately needs China more than China needs them. So they have to bow
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What if China shuts Apple from its markets?

Then Uncle Sam will carpet bomb the hell out of China!

 

[iThingsGurl]

The Chinese trademark authority's decision stemmed from its belief that "the general public will not link the trademark in dispute with Apple to harm its [Apple's] interests," stating that Apple could not prove "iPhone" was a well-known brand in China before Xintong Tiandi trademarked it in 2007.

So does this mean Xintong Tiandi's IPHONE trademark became a well-known brand in China after it trademarked it in 2007? Not before iPhone I'm sure!

 

[Nevaborn]

Tbh this is barely news as China is well known in multiple industries for it's blatant protectionism towards Chinese companies and blatant disregard to copyright ownership.

The worst is the motor industry, China has companies producing blatant rip offs of western company vehicles but when an objection is raised they are always shot down that there is no simularity.

I think Apple should really stop trying to pander to China and focus on more open Asian markets and the goldmine of the future which is India.

 

[Ivanovitchk]

next lawsuit: Fruit retailers must agree to reverse 30% of each Apple sold or stop selling them.

In addition,
Apples must be presented in dedicated space with specially trained vendors and wooden baskets.
iPads must be used to showcase the fruit's unapologetic benefits.

 

[Rajani Isa]

Of course, everyone here seems to have forgotten that when Apple brought out the "iPhone" in 2007, Cisco actually had the US trademark on that spelling for a phone... a trademark which Jobs more or less bullied Cisco into giving up to Apple without any payment.

Was it iPhone, or iOS? Could have sworn the Cisco trademark was iOS...

Anyway, as far as the phone accessories go... in the US Apple probably would have won based on the making of phone accessories with the name of a phone brand.

While it's true that trademarks are generally for specific categories, there is some bleedover.

It would be interesting to see the exact date they filed for that trademark in China in 2007.

 

[doelcm82]

To add further, the iPad was already in prototype form in 2002. If only Apple opened up a little bit so we could see all the failures and future successes as they were being created.

If only ... then what?

I'm guessing there would be more articles on MacRumors for products that Apple will ultimately decide not to make. That would be entertaining.

Ae you wanting more along the lines of the Apple car and the Apple TV set?
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Wow, so much kool aid drinking going on. Apple only owns the name iPhone for electronics. How would you guys feel if Microsoft didn't allow companies to use the word "Windows" in the name of products even if they are not a computer company. People would call MS a bully.

I hate that kool aid reference. It comes from a terrible event involving nearly a thousand people who were tricked/coerced into drinking a grape flavored soft drink that was poisoned.

Here's the irony: That poisoned soft drink wasn't Kool Aid! It was a different brand, but people who use the reference to call other people followers are just following along, using the more familiar brand name instead of the correct one. They've swallowed the morbid meme whole and are just regurgitating it!

 

[kdarling]

Was it iPhone, or iOS? Could have sworn the Cisco trademark was iOS...

Good memory. It was actually BOTH of those Cisco trademarked names (iPhone and IOS) that Apple used.

It would be interesting to see the exact date they filed for that trademark in China in 2007.

Since the iPhone was shown off in January 2007, it's pretty likely that the case maker filed after that.

 

[acorntoy]

Apple, like the rest of the world so badly and desperately needs China more than China needs them. So they have to bow
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What if China shuts Apple from its markets?

Or worse it's hoardes of rare earth materials. China has Apple and a lot of other technology companies trapped.

 

[JustThinkin']

Seriously?! I actually side with the Chinese courts on this one. Trademarks and copyrights are both excessively strict in modern times. Realistically, nobody is going to think, "Ick... an iPhone? I'm not going to buy one of THOSE cellphones made by that Chinese leather case-maker! I'll just get one of these Androids instead."

And by the same token? Who CARES if someone stupidly believes this leather case with IPHONE stamped on the front of it is a genuine Apple product? It's just a cheap accessory. If it sells so darn well that it cuts noticeably into Apple's sales of its own phone cases, maybe it should start carrying them in its retail stores?

Man, tons of you knee jerk. China was right with this decision but you wouldn't know any better with so many drinking the kool-aid or just being oblivious to how it works.

Apple DIDN'T have a trademark for whatever category that leather goods fits under. Or did most of you not know that trademarks are categorized? Apple lost fair and square. If they wanted to prevent something like this, they should have filed for every related (including accessories) category.

This is absurdity. The IPHONES aren't leather goods, they're iPhone accessories - a product which Apple makes.

This patent should never have been granted in the first place. In 2007 the iPhone was big news - it's obvious this company appropriated the name and re-trademarked it for themselves. It's certainly not an original name they came up with themselves - their objective was to profit off of Apple's work.

 

[ke-iron]

This is why the next iPhone will be rebranded as the Apple Phone.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Apple, like the rest of the world so badly and desperately needs China more than China needs them. So they have to bow
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What if China shuts Apple from its markets?

china needed the United States and Europe to save it from death back in 1964, so just strip it of western use of IP.

 

[subjonas]

"IPHONE" is pinyin (pronounced "ip-ho-ni") for "leather" in Chinese. Little known fact.

-BS

 

[Superhai]

Good memory. It was actually BOTH of those Cisco trademarked names (iPhone and IOS) that Apple used.

Yes, both IPhone and IOS belongs to Cisco. And both companies are still allowed to use both, the first by a court settlement and the second is licensed to Apple from Cisco.
Iphone was originally a product by Infogear, a company later bought by Cisco who cancelled the product, but revived the name in 2006 for a product called Linksys iPhone a VOIP product (Linksys was at that time bought by Cisco).
IOS became an issue after the rebranding from IPhoneOS to IOS.