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iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus banned in Beijing

Update: Beijing's intellectual property regulator claims the two handsets are too similar to a Chinese smartphone.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Senior Contributing Editor
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus banned in Beijing

The Baili 100C smartphone next to the iPhone 6

Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have been banned from sale in Beijing, China, by the intellectual property regulator, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The regulators claim that the previous-generation iPhones infringe on a Chinese design patent for the Chinese Baili 100C smartphone.

The ruling does not affect sales of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus.

This is yet another blow for Apple, coming a month after the company lost the rights to the "iPhone" trademark.

China is an important market for Apple, as highlighted by the number of times the country was mentioned during its WWDC 2016 keynote presentation. China is currently Apple's largest market outside the US.

UPDATE: Apple says that the order has been stayed while it appeals, and that all iPhones are available for sale.

"We appealed an administrative order from a regional patent tribunal in Beijing last month and as a result the order has been stayed pending review by the Beijing IP Court," said an Apple spokesperson.

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