A file photo of iphone bags. [Photo: Agencies]

The U.S. Tech company Apple has lost a trademark case in China aimed at protecting its iPhone brand.

Apple initially brought the case against Xintong Tiandi Technology Company to the Chinese trademark authority in 2014, claiming the Chinese company was in breach of trademark rules by using the word 'IPHONE' on bags and other leather products it made.

After the failure of a lawsuit in a lower Beijing court, the American firm then appealed to a higher court.

The Legal Daily newspaper says the Beijing Municipal High People's Court dismissed Apple's appeal, saying the U.S. firm could not prove the "iPhone" brand was well-known in China in 2007, when Xintong Xiandi filed the trademark application and secured it in 2010.

The court ruled the Chinese company could continue using the word 'IPHONE' on its merchandise.

Apple iPhones first went on sale in China in 2009.

Although it applied for the "iPhone" trademark for computer hardware and software in China in 2002, it was only granted in 2013.