Apple is no longer the sole owner of the 'iPhone'

Xintong Tiandi trademarked "IPHONE" for leather products in China in 2010. Apple filed a trademark bid for the name for electronic goods in 2002, but it was not approved until 2013.

Xintong Tiandi sells handbags, mobile phone cases and other leather goods branded with the name "IPHONE" and the "R" registered trademark symbol.

Apple first brought the case against the company to the Chinese trademark authority in 2012, then when that failed, filed a lawsuit in a lower Beijing court.

But both ruled against Apple, so the electronics giant appealed to the higher court.

The higher court ruled that Apple could not prove it was a well-known brand in China before Xintong Tiandi filed its trademark application in 2007. This was because Apple iPhones was first made available in China in 2009.

The ruling comes close to Apple's latest quarterly earnings report, which showed a 13% drop in revenue on slower iPhone sales. Sales in China plunged by as much as 26%, most likely due to yet another issue Apple is having with China. In March, Beijing passed a law that required all content shown in China to be stored on servers based on the Chinese mainland. As a result Apple's iBooks and iTunes services were shut down in the country. Apple is hoping to restore access to the services soon.

Last week billionaire investor Carl Icahn sold all his shares in Apple over concerns about the technology firm's prospects in China.