Apple (News - Alert) is known for fiercely defending its copyrights, but this is surely the first time it’s been sued by a company under reversed circumstances.

Yes, while we’re waiting patiently for Apple’s iPhone (News - Alert) 5 to come out, Chinese manufacturer Goophone has skipped the wait, using leaked pictures of the next iPhone to create their own knockoff device.

It then proceeded to patent the design in China, and is ready to sue Apple for patent infringement once the iPhone 5 is released there.

The Goophone I5, a pretty blatant copy of the iPhone 5, runs on an Android (News - Alert) 4.9 ICS with an iOS 6 theme, and features a 1.4Ghz CPU, 1 gigabyte RAM, and a 4-inch screen with a 1280 x 720 resolution retina display.

We can’t compare that to the iPhone 5 quite yet, but it’s safe to assume the knockoff won’t be able to compare to the original, even if it’s technically released first.

While copycat devices are no new news, what’s either incredibly gutsy or incredibly stupid of Goophone is its intent to sue Apple for patent infringement, should the new iPhone release in China. Apple officials, and its fans, can only expect judges to examine Goophone’s product and realize an obvious maneuver to imitate Apple’s original designs.

This is shortly after Apple won a patent violation lawsuit against Samsung (News - Alert) for $1.05 billion, although Samsung does plan to appeal the decision.

Should Goophone try and take Apple to court, Apple’s lawyers will almost certainly only need to take a three-minute break from laughing to present all the evidence they need, and counter-sue for more than the original allegation.

If it does come to that, though, it may be an interesting case to follow.

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