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BEIJING -- The lawyer for a Chinese company that won a patent ruling against Apple Inc. said his client has no intention of affecting either the U.S. tech giant's product sales or reputation.

The ruling, which Apple is appealing, is an example of the growing number of patent disputes in China as the country's intellectual-property system matures and as Chinese companies become more adept at using patents as a competitive tack.

Andy Yang, the Beijing-based attorney representing Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services Co., held a press conference Friday afternoon, the company's first public appearance about the case.

"What Baili wants to achieve is to clarify the facts and protect its own innovation and intellectual property rights," said Mr. Yang, of Beijing Wis & Weals.

Baili is owned by Digione, which withdrew from the market last year.

Xu Guoxiang, the founder of Baili, confirmed it was wholly owned by Digione in a text message to The Wall Street Journal.

"Baili is an independent company, and one's protection of one's rights through legal measures shouldn't be affected even if one comes across financial difficulties," he wrote.

According to Mr. Yang, the lawyer, Mr. Xu and his team finished the design of their 100C mobile device in 2013 and applied for its patent with Chinese intellectual-property authorities in January 2014. He showed documents purporting to show that Apple applied for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus design patents in the U.S. four months later, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office online database.

Apple then submitted its design patent to Chinese authorities in October 2014, according to documents Mr. Yang showed.

Mr. Yang pointed out 27 phone features which he said could confuse consumers between the two companies' products, ranging from the frames' angle of curvature to placement of buttons on the side.

Mr. Yang said the company couldn't speculate on why the designs were similar. He emphasized that the first-comer should get the patent even if a design overlap was a coincidence.

Apple's lawyers wrote in their appeal that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus don't infringe on Shenzhen Baili's patents.

Apple says it has appealed the Beijing patent office's decision and the sales injunction has been stayed pending review by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court.

"iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as iPhone 6s, iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone SE models are all available for sale today in China," Apple said in a statement Wednesday. Apple didn't comment further Friday on Baili's statements.

Mr. Yang said the company was happy to see Apple's success in the Chinese market and willing to maintain friendly collaboration with its industrial competitors. He didn't say whether Baili plans to claim financial compensation from Apple in the future.

Yang Jie and Eva Dou contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2016 11:01 ET (15:01 GMT)

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