Apple loses iPhone™

Apple has lost its trademark on the word "iPhone" in China.

The decision was handed down in late April by a court in Beijing, but has only reached the Anglophone press now.

The court stated that Apple was not able to prove that "iPhone" was "a famous brand" in China before the mobe's release in that country in 2009, and as such, local business Xintong Tiandi is allowed to continue to use the term as branding on its leather goods.

It is the most recent of Apple's woes in China, after the company reported its sales in the Greater China area falling 26 per cent in Q1. ®