1. A Chinese court has rejected Apple's appeal in a case regarding who owns the 'iPad' trademark in China, paving the way for a 10 billion Yuan (USD 1.6 billion) suit against the technology giant.
2. The battle began in October 2011 when Proview, a monitor manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China, sued Apple over violation of the 'iPad' trademark. Proview Shenzhen claims to own the 'iPad' trademark in China since 2001.
3. Apple responded with a suit of its own in December 2011 to assert its right of the 'iPad' trademark in the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province. The suit was promptly rejected and Apple given 30 days to appeal against the verdict.
4. Apple filed the expected appeal last month. The rejection of this appeal on 6th February, 2011 has paved the way for proceedings in Proview's original 10 billion Yuan case to resume.
5. Proview Taiwan had sold the 'iPad' trademark to UK-based IP Application Development in 2006 for USD 55,000.
6. In January 2010, just before the original iPad was officially announced, IP Application Development started filing for the 'iPad' trademark in US and other countries worldwide.
7. Later that year, IP Application Development transferred the worldwide rights to the 'iPad' trademark to Apple.
8. In their lawsuit, Proview Shenzhen insists its Taiwan affiliate was not authorized to perform the sale and, thus, it still retains ownership of the 'iPad' trademark in China.
9. The impact of the lawsuit beyond the damages isn't clear yet. Strictly speaking, Apple might be forced to sell its tablet under a name other than iPad. Whether Proview is looking to do that or just looking for a compensation from Apple as it says, isn't clear yet.
10. China has become a key market for Apple recently, with the iPhone 4S being a smash hit since it was launched on 13th January 2012. The demand was so overwhelming that Apple was forced to halt the in-store sale of the iPhone 4S in Beijing and Shanghai, citing safety concerns for its staff as well as customers, and switch to online sales only.
source :http://www.ndtv.com/article/technology/10-facts-about-apple-s-ipad-battle-in-china-174557
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/technology/10-facts-about-apple-s-ipad-battle-in-china-174557
No comments:
Post a Comment