Apple accuses Proview of misleading the courts
March 29, 2012 Category Uncategorized
Following the launch of its new iPad, Apple accused Proview Technology (Shenzhen) of “misleading Chinese courts” and the public about its claim to the “iPad” trademark. Carolyn Wu, Apple’s Spokeswoman in Beijing, said: “We respect Chinese laws and regulations, and as a company that generates a lot of intellectual property we would never knowingly abuse someone else’s trademarks.” Proview Shenzhen, a subsidiary of failed Hong Kong-listed computer display maker Proview International, maintains that it did not sell its rights to two China-registered iPad trademarks, despite a Hong Kong court ruling last year that upheld Apple’s ownership based on a December 23, 2009 agreement. But the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court ruled in favor of the mainland firm in November in a trademark-infringement case filed by Apple. Apple appealed the ruling in the Guangdong Higher People’s Court, which suggested last month that the two sides try to strike a deal. Proview Shenzhen had earlier said the China trademarks would cost Apple up to USD2 billion. “Our representatives approached Proview Shenzhen in 2009 and negotiated to acquire the rights to the iPad name – including 10 trademarks, two of which are registered in the PRC,” Wu said, noting that Proview had not used the iPad name for more than three years when their talks started. Dismissing Proview Shenzhen’s claim that the iPad trademarks were not transferred, or that mistakes were made in handling the transaction, Wu said the firm’s managers “were well aware of what they were doing and insisted on selling the trademarks through an affiliate company” – Proview Electronics in Taiwan. “Proview clearly made that arrangement so they wouldn’t have to give the money to their creditors in the PRC,” she said. “Proview didn’t want to pay its debts in 2009 when it sold the iPad trademarks, and because they still owe a lot of people a lot of money, they are now unfairly trying to get more from Apple for a trademark we already paid for.” Apple, which paid GBP35,000 for Proview’s worldwide iPad trademarks, was sued by Taipei-based Proview Electronics in California last month in an attempt to rescind that transaction. Talks between Apple and a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-listed firm Proview International over the rights to the iPad name in China have stalled, Proview said. Taiwan-based Fubon Insurance, a major creditor of Proview Technology, has moved to have the company liquidated, based on USD8.68 million in outstanding debts dating back to 2010.
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