“A Shanghai court began hearing on Wednesday a case brought by a Chinese technology firm seeking to halt the sale of Apple Inc’s iPads across the affluent Chinese city, accusing the U.S. firm of trademark infringement,” Melanie Lee and Samuel Shen report for Reuters.
“Previous court rulings in favour of Proview Technology (Shenzhen) have covered specific retailers in smaller cities, but a Shanghai order, if imposed, would eat into one of Apple’s biggest markets in China,” Lee and Shen report. “A judgment was not expected immediately.”
Lee and Shen report, “It is unclear whether there will be more hearings at the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court, and lawyers have said a judgment is not expected for a few months and that Apple would in any case have the option to appeal should it lose.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
China’s Proview preparing for Apple iPad trademark settlement talks – February 21, 2012
Apple vs. Proview: What’s happened so far and what’s next – February 21, 2012
Apple’s iPad trademark battle moves to Shanghai – February 21, 2012
Apple threatens to sue Proview for defamation over iPad trademark dispute – February 20, 2012
Lower Chinese court rules shops should pull iPads over trademark dispute – February 20, 2012
China may intervene in iPad trademark dispute – February 18, 2012
Hong Kong Judge sides with Apple over Proview – February 17, 2012
Take a look at some of Apple’s evidence in Proview iPad trademark dispute – February 16, 2012
Unfortunately it looks like Apple will lose this one fair and square. Someone missed the ‘global’ clause that did not include China…heads will roll at Apple Legal. The sun will rise again tomorrow morning as usual.
I say Apple rename/rebrand iPad to ‘Dapi’, just for China. Will probably be cheaper than the legal fight.
And people will still call it an iPad.
(clever solution huh?)
my 2p
No, Apple did not miss the ‘global’ clause, they own the rights to iPad everywhere including China. This has already been determined in a court case in Hong Kong where the rights were sold. The courts in mainland China have been in error either via corruption or incompetence.
It’s possible China may step in to resolve this attempt to shake down Apple for more money based on false claims and fraud. Apple needs to make an example of Proview so others do not attempt similar fraud.
The court documents from Hong Kong show fairly conclusively that Proview has been acting in bad faith, if not from the start then as soon as they realized what they had sold. Even though the dispute involves which “Proview” organization owns the right to the name, the fact is that all of them are owned, managed and controlled by the same man. The documents selling the name to IPAD are here: http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=20048
Image #9 clearly shows that the rights to the name in China are included. The best that can be made of this is that Proview (Taiwan) sold something that didn’t belong to them, and failed to correct the error. Actions since the sale show bad faith on the part of the owners of Proview, according to the court.
@F1Mikal in NYC sez: Someone missed the ‘global’ clause that did not include China
No actually. “China” is clearly listed as one of the 8 countries relevant to the sales contract. I provide a link below where you can read the sales contract documents. The Hong Kong court already ruled the contract to be VALID and Proview to be in BREACH OF CONTRACT.
Here is the list of 8 areas covered by the Proview ‘iPad’ trademark sales contract with Apple:
– CTM (Community Trade Mark)
– South Korea
– Mexico
– China
– Singapore
– Indonesia
– Thailand
– Vietnam
The contract lists the sale of TWO ‘iPad’ trademarks sold by Proview, both “IPAD” and “IPAD Stylised”. The specific trademark registration numbers are listed at “1590557” and “1682310”. They were registered respectively on “21 June 2001” and “14 December 2001”. The registration class is listed as well.
Proview have no case. They lost. That any other jurisdiction but Hong Kong is hearing Proview’s counter suits is itself a further breach of contract.
IOW: Every time Proview rigs another illegal lawsuit outside of the jurisdiction of Hong Kong, Apple has further cause and evidence to sue Proview’s bankrupt little butts off.
IOW: Apple already won. Everything else is a scam by Proview, enabled by the criminal nature of the government subsequent court system of China.
If anyone seriously cares about these Proview lawsuits and believes there is even an iota of a chance of Proview winning outside of a corrupt courtroom, PLEASE read the relevant documents, all linked below. Proview are just another gang of Chinese criminals with nothing on their side but further crime. All Apple has to do is sit patiently by and watch with amusement. If a single iPad is touched as a result of these illegal court rulings in favor of Proview, it’s only further fodder for further successful lawsuits by Apple.
Chinese fire drill, Keystone Cops, dog chasing its own tail, snake eating itself, take your pick. They all make just as much sense as Proview’s criminal behavior.
Agreed. Everytime the subject of money comes up, Proview is asking for more.
Blackmail behavior.
This passing around of the Proview scam case against Apple is POINTLESS. The “iPad” sales contract designates specifically “Hong Kong” as the jurisdiction for hearing ALL cases regarding the contract. The Hong Kong court has already ruled. Proview LOST. They have been judged to be in Default of Contract. Proview LOST. All this other garbage is ILLEGAL and waste of time and resources.
Poor little Proview LOST APPLE’S CASE AGAINST THEM. So Proview go and file countersuits in every corrupt jurisdiction in China, none of which have the right to hear the case.
Welcome to China: Criminal Nation. What a hellhole. 😛
For those interested, you can read the Hong Kong court ruling against Proview here:
Here’s the Chinese Court Ruling Backing Apple in iPad Trademark Tiff
Apple’s sales contract with Proview, which specifically designates only Hong Kong as the only jurisdiction for hearing suits regarding the contract, can be read here:
Take a Look at Some of Apple’s Evidence in Proview iPad Dispute