According to iPhonAsia (translations of orig appreciated), China Mobile, the biggest mobile operator in the world with over 600 million subscribers, is telling its retail partners that it cannot advertise or carry the iPhone. China Unicom, the second largest Chinese carrier, won the non-exclusive right to carry the iPhone and began selling the device last month.
The distributors that received the China Mobile notice include: Gome, Suning, Zoomflight, Dixintong (our fav!) (D-Phone), Tongwanbao and Kinfic. The China Mobile letter further warns these distributors to NOT display iPhones nor any iPhone related marketing materials.
Many cell phone distributors received formal notification that
me hate you long time
My employer owns the ophone domain and is developing a product tentatively known as the ophone. (Conceived many years before the iPhone by the way.) Anyway, China has blocked the ophone.com domain – and a chinese company, with the full knowledge of our own work, has started to use the ophone name too. They do not adhere to the same legal and/or business practices of the West – yet. Things will change though.
This happens in a communist dictatorship?
Go figure.
So you’re suggesting by registering a domain name one could gain exclusive, worldwide rights to its associated marks?
That’s a new low even for trademark trolls.
This site assigns this name to me: “9to5Mac Noob” wh-the-hell?
To the ophone dude, 1, a domain name is not a cell phone name. 2, did your company got the name early enough? 3. (unlikely) did your company register the name in China?
No, it’s not registered in china, but a teaser page was put up (years ago) and you would have thought they would have made the effort to contact the owner as a courtesy at the very least.
The government still reigns supreme in China. Oh well, just follow whatever the law says to avoid further conflict. There are lots of other substitutes for iphone.
“Wow. Is this how they roll over there?”
It’s the same the world over.
This reminds me of Microsoft pre 2000.