SAN FRANCISCO - Apple is embroiled in a Chinese patent dispute that threatens to block future sales of the iPhone 6 in Beijing unless the company can overturn a regulator's recent ruling.

The potential ban stems from a decision issued last month by the Beijing Intellectual Property Office. The agency found the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringed on a Chinese company's patent for the exterior design of its smartphone called the 100C.

Apple Inc. is still being allowed to sell the both of the affected iPhone models while it appeals the ruling to an intellectual property court in China.

If it loses, Apple could be forbidden from selling its most profitable iPhones in China's capital at a time when sales of the entire iPhone line have already been declining.