China Daily 每日新闻摘要——May 5th

兔斯基

Apple loses exclusive right to iPhone trademark in China

Apple Inc has lost exclusivity on the use of the "iPhone" trademark in China and has to share it with a Beijing-based leather products maker.

The Beijing Municipal High People's Court has ruled in favor of Xintong Tiandi Technology (Beijing) Ltd, which sells a number of leather products such as smartphone cases and handbags under the name "IPHONE".

In 2002, Apple applied for the "iPhone" trademark for its electronic goods in China, but it wasn't actually granted until 2013.

Xintong Tiandi filed for its own "IPHONE" trademark in China in 2007, the same year the first generation of Apple's iPhone was launched in the United States.

In order to obtain the exclusivity on the use of the "iPhone" trademark in China, Apple first took the case to the Chinese trademark authority in 2012, but it failed as the agency claimed Apple couldn't prove the name "iPhone" was a well-known brand prior to Xintong Tiandi's registration in 2007.

Apple then filed a lawsuit in a Beijing court. However, the court ruled against it and Apple appealed to the Beijing Municipal High People's Court.

The court said that the company didn't sell the iPhone in the Chinese mainland until 2009.

The final judgment means Xintong Tiandi could continue to use the trademark to sell its products.

Apple didn't comment on the ruling.

It came as Apple's latest quarterly earnings showed a 13 percent drop in revenue as sales of iPhones slipped. China was a particular weak spot as the sales in China fell 26 percent to $12.49 billion, due to weak demand for iPhones.

Xintong Tiandi confirmed the court ruling on its website and said the decision represented a victory for free consumer markets.

James Yan, a Beijing-based analyst at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, said: "The failure of the trademark fight would not have a great impact on Apple's brand and image, but it might confuse consumers as they don't know whether these products are made by Apple or some producers copy Apple's name, when they are buying leather products embossed with the 'IPHONE' brand."

Zhu Dalin, an analyst at Beijing-based Internet consultancy Analysys International, agreed.

Zhu said the influence of Xintong Tiandi is very minor, which wouldn't pose a threat to Apple anyway, and Apple mainly focuses on electronic devices, such as smartphones and iPads.

兔斯基

Red-eye bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing launches

The first regular red-eye bullet train running from Shanghai to Beijing will start operation on May 15, Shanghai railway police authority said on Wednesday, the city's local news paper Xinmin Evening News reported
Shanghai railway police said that the red-eye bullet train, G8, will leave Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station at 7 pm and arrive at Beijing South Railway Station at 11:48 pm. Trains running overnight are popularly known as "red-eyes".

It will be the first time that a bullet train running from Shanghai to Beijing will operate after 6 pm. The train will return to Shanghai the next day.

The ticket prices will be 933 yuan ($143.68) and 553 yuan, the same like the daytime ones.

The authorities said more police officers will be onboard on the red-eye bullet train to ensure safety at night.

Another bullet train with sleeping cars, D312, which ran from Shanghai Railway Station to Beijing South Railway Station temporarily during the Spring Festival holiday, will also start regular operation later.

It will leave Shanghai at 7:10 pm and arrive at Beijing at 7:07 am the next day.

China Railway Corp, the country's railroad operator, said earlier this year that it would add "red-eye" bullet trains to its fixed operation schedule to cater for a growing demand.

China has seen a massive increase in train passengers in the past decade. Some 2.5 billion passengers took trains in 2015, up 6.07 percent from a year earlier.

兔斯基

Beijing govt to drop 3m kilos of pork in market to drive down prices





The Beijing municipal government is placing 3.05 million kilograms of frozen pork reserves into the marketplace to alleviate a significant surge in prices, the first time the city has taken such an action.

The price of pork has been rising since February — raw pork prices surged 50.6 percent month on month in April — with little sign of retreating demand, according to the Beijing municipal government.

The government will also provide subsidies of 5 yuan per kilogram of pork sold in 555 major chain grocery stores and subsidies to slaughterhouses to increase the pork supply, Deng Hongbo, spokesman of the municipal commerce commission, said on Tuesday.

The measures, which will begin on Thursday and continue until July 4, are expected to lower the price by 18 percent, Deng said.

Deng said the government will enforce rigid inspection and sanitary standards in each facility providing frozen meat.