Investors eyeing Apple's China growth with anticipation have had their bubbles popped today with news that the tech company was ordered to stop selling two if its latest iPhone models to Chinese consumers.
A Beijing Intellectual Property Bureau notice from May 19 told Apple to stop selling the infringing products: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. However, Apple now says the government order has been stayed while it appeals and seeks to remedy the problem. And Apple's iPhones are currently being sold by some stores.
Shenzhen Baili's 100C smartphone is at the center of the dispute, with the Beijing Intellectual Property Bureau saying Apple's iPhones infringed the exterior design of the 100C model.
This is not the first intellectual property setback in China faced by Apple in 2016. Just a few weeks ago, Apple lost its trademark dispute with Beijing Xintong Tiandi Technology Co., Ltd. over the use of the "IPHONE" mark in China. Tiandi sells a range of purses, cases, and bindings with the eponymous "IPHONE" name stamped on each one. The court ruled that the "IPHONE" name would not cause confusion about consumers in China, and therefore Tiandi has a right to use the trademark.