中国iPhone商标权大战苹果败诉

HONG KONG — In China, an iPhone can be found fora small fraction of the official price. It just mightnot be a phone.

香港——在中国，只要花上一笔远远不到官方价格的小钱，你就能买到iPhone产品。但它可能连手机都不是。

A Chinese company has won the right to sell itsleather goods under the iPhone trademark afteryears of legal back-and-forth with Apple, accordingto an article in Chinese state news media. The case isyet another that centers on names that are wellestablished in much of the world but that have had to fight for control in China, such as thebasketball star Michael Jordan and the shoe brand New Balance.

中国官方新闻媒体的一篇文章报道，在与苹果(Apple)进行多年法律较量之后，一家中国公司获得了使用iPhone商标出售皮具制品的权利。此前已经有过一些类似案件：在世界很多地方家喻户晓的名字，不得不在中国为商标的控制权而战，比如篮球明星迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)和鞋类品牌新百伦(New Balance)。

The Chinese company, Xintong Tiandi, applied for the iPhone trademark in China just after thefirst Apple smartphones came out, in 2007, according to an article by the state-run Legal Dailylast week. Still, Xintong Tiandi’s trademark in China, for leather goods, was approved beforeApple’s, which had applied for the rights in 2002, the article said.

这家中国公司名为新通天地。官方报纸《法制日报》上周的文章称，就在2007年第一款苹果智能手机发布之后不久，新通天地在中国申请注册iPhone商标。文中表示，尽管如此，新通天地在中国为皮具制品申请的商标，仍比在2002年提交申请的苹果公司更早获得批准。

The website of Xintong Tiandi features a range of leather products, including pen cases,passport holders, handbags and wallets, all stamped with “iPhone.” None of the products arephones. In a news release issued last week, the company also featured photographs of its otherproducts, like a leather iPad case labeled “iphone” next to a bottle of Rémy Martin Cognac.

新通天地的网站上展示了多款皮具，比如笔盒、护照套、手袋及钱包，全都带有“iPhone”标识。没有任何一款产品是手机。在上周的一篇新闻稿中，公司还贴出了其他一些产品的图片，比如带有“iphone”标识的一款皮质iPad保护套，旁边摆着一瓶人头马干邑(Rémy Martin Cognac)。

In the news release, the Chinese company said that the “huge victory brings esteem toXintong Tiandi’s promise to protect the iPhone trademark,” before adding that it was willingto work with Apple. Apple declined to comment on the case on Wednesday.

在新闻稿中，这家中国公司表示，苹果“伟大的成功令人尊重，在此，新通天地科技(北京)有限公司承诺：为了维护好‘IPHONE’商标这一美好的形象”，愿意与苹果公司合作。苹果周三拒绝对此案置评。

While the Chinese company’s approach might be perplexing, it testifies to the power ofApple’s name recognition in the country. The iPhone brand signals middle- or even upper-class status in China, and many are expected to be willing to pay for a passport cover or otheritem labeled with the Apple product’s name as a way to show that they have made it.

虽然新通天地的做法可能令人费解，但它证明了苹果在中国的知名度。iPhone品牌在这里是中产乃至上层阶级的身份标志，也许很多人愿意让自己的护照套或其他用品上带有苹果产品的名称，显示自己是成功人士。

The iPhone ruling, in a high court in the Beijing municipality, is just one of a spate of high-profile trademark and piracy cases in China. The country’s huge number of factories, bolsteredby a 100 million-strong class of migrant workers, has made China the workshop of the world,able, among other activities, to quickly pump out products that can make a company a quickprofit on the impulse to imitate.

对iPhone商标权的裁决由北京市高级人民法院做出，而这只是一连串引人瞩目的商标和盗版案件中的一起。中国拥有数量庞大的工厂和逾一亿农民工，因而成为世界工厂。其他不说，只要模仿的念头一起，他们就有能力迅速造出产品，轻松给公司带来利润。

Aiding them is a first-to-file trademark system that lets “unrelated third parties registertrademarks which are copies or imitations of well-known brands,” according to a post last yearfrom law firm DLA Piper.

中国商标法采用的“先申请制”帮了他们的忙。欧华律师事务所(DLA Piper)去年在一篇帖子中表示，“不相关的第三方因此可以注册知名品牌模仿品或抄袭品的商标。”

Among other high-profile cases, Michael Jordan lost the rights to the name he is known by inChina, and New Balance paid $16 million in damages for what a court said was the illegal useof the Chinese name for the company, which a person had trademarked.

其他一些案例也备受瞩目：迈克尔·乔丹失去了在中国使用这个商标的权利，新百伦则支付了9800万元人民币的赔偿金，因为法院裁定公司使用这个中文名是非法的，它已经被某个人注册过了。

Apple had previously faced a similar situation with the iPad. In 2012, the company was forcedto pay $60 million for the rights to use the iPad trademark in China. Apple had bought therights to the name in a number of countries, but after iPad tablet sales took off in China, aChinese company said it had not secured the rights in that country.

苹果的iPad此前也遇到过类似情况。在2012年，为了获得在中国使用iPad商标的权利，公司不得不花费6000万美元。苹果此前在很多国家买下了使用这个商标的权利，但在中国，随着iPad平板的销量飙升，一家中国公司表示，苹果在那里并没有取得使用这个商标的权利。

The case caps a tough couple of weeks for Apple. Last month, the company’s iTunes Movies andiBooks stores in China were ordered shut by a national regulator. The company also reportedlast week that sales in China had dropped, as it struggles to keep the loyalty and admirationof fickle Chinese consumers.

苹果近几周来诸事不顺，现在又遇到了这桩案件。上个月，苹果在中国的iTunes Movies和iBooks商店被国家监管机构勒令关闭。中国消费者颇为善变，苹果在维持他们的忠诚度和崇尚之情方面遭遇了困难。上周公布的财报显示，该公司在中国的销售额出现了下滑。