The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court Monday announced it has accepted Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd's case against Apple and a Fujian-based information and technology company for infringement.
Claiming that a mobile game released by NetDragon Websoft had copied huge chunks from a famous online game it had developed, Shanda filed a 10 million yuan (US$1.65 million) compensation claim from the two companies.
Apple allegedly helped facilitate the infringement by selling game's iPad and iPhone versions in its App store.
Shanda also demanded the two firm stop the infringement immediately.
In November this year, Shanda Interactive found the new mobile game was very similar to Shanda's Legend of Mir II (Chinese version), whose copyright was bought in 2001 from WeMade Entertainment Co Ltd, an online games developer and service provider based in South Korea.
Shanda said its game has been running in China for 13 years. Apple was accused of promoting NetDragon's mobile game, Nuzhanxuanyuan, in its App Store, for iPhone and iPad users.