Chinese officials found five fake Apple stores in the southwestern city of Kunming and ordered two of them to suspend business while they're investigated, a local government website said Monday.AP/The Associated Press
Apple Inc has been granted 40 patents in China, which will help the maker of iPhones and iPads gain more intellectual property protection in the country, the China Daily reported on Wednesday.
Apple, whose mobile devices are among the most pirated gadgets in China, was granted the patents on Sept. 9, the report said.
The patents cover 37 of its products including the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air, and the architecture of its three stores in Shanghai, the newspaper said, quoting Patently Apple, a company blog focusing on IP news.
Most of the new patents were related to aspects of its mobile phones, such as user interface and speaker technology, according to the report.
Apple has been involved in numerous lawsuits with handset manufacturers, including South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Taiwan's HTC Corp.
The architecture patents also suggest Apple is attempting to secure its sales channels from imposters as well. In July, a fake Apple store was discovered in city of Kunming, in the south-western province of Yunnan, prompting Chinese authorities to crack down on fake retail outlets.
Earlier this week, a source told Reuters that Samsung Electronics was considering legal action to block sales of Apple's new iPhone, in what could be its strongest step to defend against claims by the U.S. company that it had copied its product designs.