It was imminent and we reported it earlier that Apple may face ban for it’s innovative tablet – iPad in China soon.
Apple suffered serious damage after Xie Xianghui, a lawyer representing Shenzhen Proview Technology claimed that the Intermediate People’s Court in Huizhou, a city in southern China, ruled on Friday that distributors should stop selling iPads in China, reports The Associated Press.
Proview, according to the report is being very harsh with Apple and the subsidiary of the Hong-Kong based company has already asked commercial authorities within 40 cities of China to block the sale of iPad.
But it’s not a ‘piece of cake’ to make Apple disappear or leave the battle ground, the company has insisted that it holds the trademark rights to the iPad in China:
“We bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago. Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China and a Hong Kong court has sided with Apple in this matter,” said Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.
Up til now, the recent reports says that iPads have been taken off from shelves in some Chinese cities but there has been no word on whether iPad sales will be banned at the national level.
So where does the case stand now?
A Chinese court has upheld a ruling saying Proview owns the iPad trademark. The company is asking for up to $1.6 billion in compensation. Apple is appealing. A final hearing is scheduled for February 29th.
