Apple Could Lose Trademark Rights For iPad In China

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Apple Could Lose Trademark Rights For iPad In China

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) current trademark dispute with Proview International Holdings Limited (HKG:0334) could prove to be a huge loss for the world’s most valuable company. There have been several reports on Tuesday that both parties were in a court-mandated mediation and certain officials claim Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) might lose their rights to trademark to iPad in China.

According to the Associated Press, “Apple Inc. risks losing the right to use the iPad trademark in China, a senior official suggested Tuesday, as a Chinese court was seeking to mediate a settlement between the technology giant and a local company challenging its use of the iPad name… Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the National Copyright Administration, told reporters in Beijing that the government regards Shenzhen Proview Technology as the rightful owner of the trademark for the popular tablet computers”.

Apple and Proview are in China court to try to reach an agreement that would appease both sides.  If neither company can agree on a settlement, the case will have to go to the Guangdong High Court in China. And if that happens, the hearings won’t start until months later. Proview did not reveal the amount of compensation they were seeking from Apple.

Back in 2009, Apple acquired the rights to iPad from Proview. The company Proview claims that their subsidiary Shenzhen that actually owns the rights. They also claim that the representatives from the subsidiary did not show up at the contract signing.

Matt Rego stated in his previous story that this was not the first time Proview tried to place the blame on Apple. They filed several lawsuits against the tech giant including a more recent one in California

Apple sold about 4.1 million iPads in China last year- that’s about seventy percent of the tablet computer market.

It sounds like Proview is jealous of Apple’s success and they probably want to put the tech giant out of business. It’s not looking so good for Apple right now but that’s not to say that they are going to lose the case.

Carolyn Wu, the spokesperson for Apple, said they had no comment on the potential settlement. A previous report from the company also stated that they would never purposely abuse trademarks that belong to someone else. We’re rooting for the iPad maker.

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