“A Chinese firm trying to stop Apple Inc from using the iPad name in China has launched an attack on the consumer electronics giant’s home turf, filing a lawsuit in California that accuses it of employing deception when it bought the trademark,” Edwin Chan and Lee Chyen Yee report for Reuters.
“A unit of Proview International Holdings Ltd, a major computer monitor maker that fell on hard times during the global financial crisis, is already suing Apple in multiple Chinese jurisdictions and requesting that sales of iPads be suspended across the country,” Chan and Yee report. “Last week, Proview Electronics Co Ltd and Proview Technology Co filed a lawsuit in Santa Clara County that brings their legal dispute to Silicon Valley.”
Chan and Yee report, “Apple on Friday reiterated its statement saying that it had bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago. It also said that Proview had refused to honour their agreement and a Hong Kong court had sided with the U.S. technology giant in the matter. ‘Our case is still pending in mainland China,’ Apple said.”
“A Shanghai court this week threw out Proview’s request to halt iPad sales in the city. But the outcome of the broader dispute hinges on a higher court in Guangdong, which earlier ruled in Proview’s favor,” Chan and Yee report. “The next hearing in that case is set for Feb. 29. Proview lawyers said there might not be a decision immediately and it could take weeks or months before there was an outcome.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The desperate quest for a lifesaving settlement infusion continues apace even though Proview Technology isn’t worth a bucket of warm spit and nobody who’s not directly connected to it would miss it at all.
Proview, makers of crappy unsuccessful Apple imitative garbage since…
Oh and they ripped the idea for the name of their iMac clone from Apple, too. Quick, name 3 successful products or services that start with “i” like iPod or iMac, that are not made by Apple.
Buying the rights to the iPad name under another company name only ensured they got a fair price and not an inflated one just because they are Apple. This sort of thing keeps people honest like when Walt Disney did the same thing buying land in Florida. It kills me all this fuss over four letters of the alphabet. Apple’s legal team will have to in the future make sure things are super-ironclad but based on the paperwork of this deal Proview made from the top it hasn’t a legal leg to stand on except desperation. You made your deal, now live with it honorably.
Legal “deception” by Apple? As opposed to illegal Proview fraud?
Lawsuit SCOverload!
just how broke is ‘Proview?’ lawyers don’t usually work pro bono at this level.
You can be totally broke, and file as many lawsuits as you want… when the Bank of China is your major creditor in your bankruptcy and sees the only way to get their $850 million back is through selling the iPad trademark again… and again… and again!
If I were Cook, I’d start looking at ways to produce products somewhere else and give the middle-finger to China. I’m sick of these idiots dictating what we do, and crying foul at Foxconn. Bring it home Apple. If anyone can figure out how to make products in the US and make a healthy profit, it’s you. THAT would blow my mind Mr. Cook!
Proview is using the “Have our cake and eat it, too” school of law approach to its arguments. In the Chinese courts Proview’s attorneys are arguing “We never sold our iPad trademark to Apple!” while now, in the US court, Proview’s attorneys are arguing “Apple TRICKED us into selling our iPad trademark to them for a song! BooHoo! They cheated us!” They want to have it both ways and think that neither court will notice they are arguing with two faces. . . and lying with both!