Shanghai court sides with Apple in iPad trademark dispute, sales to continue

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014


Apple can continue to sell the iPad in Shanghai after a local court sided with the company in a trademark dispute over ownership of the "iPad" name.



Apple's victory over Proview, which for years sold a different product with the name "I-PAD," was confirmed by a source with direct knowledge of the ruling to Reuters on Thursday. The Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court made the decision quickly after a hearing was held on Wednesday.



At that hearing, Apple argued that a ban on iPad sales would be a negative for the nation of China. A lawyer representing Apple said that Proview has no products or customers, while Apple has "huge sales in China," and therefore prohibiting sales of the iPad would "hurt China's national interest."



Proview has contended that it owns the rights to the iPad name, and seeks to halt sales of Apple's hot-selling tablet in China. Though Thursday's ruling was a major setback for Proview, the company had previously had some minor successes in having a small number of iPad units pulled from shelves in a handful of cities.



Apple bought the right to use the iPad name from one of Proview's Taiwanese affiliates, but officials at Proview believe that was an unauthorized transaction, and the company has sought as much as $2 billion from Apple to use the iPad name. Apple, however, believes that Proview is not honoring up the original deal that was struck between the two companies.











Thursday's ruling was particularly significant for Apple because the company has three major flagship stores in Shanghai. A loss there would have barred sales of the iPad from some of its most heavily trafficked retail locations in the world.



Though the Shanghai victory is significant for Apple, it still faces challenges from Proview elsewhere. The company has even gone as far as to ask the Chinese government to block exportation of the iPad, which would effectively bring global sales of the device to a halt.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 62
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    If Proview is smart they will make a deal now, and not be too greedy about it (a few million not a few billion).
  • Reply 2 of 62
    Proview should get nothing and Apple should not settle.



    If anything Apple should sue them for defamation and wipe them off the map.

    I understand that they have some investment banks behind them, perhaps Apple can sue them too.



    Just look at the evidence...



    http://allthingsd.com/20120216/take-...-ipad-dispute/



    Proview sold the name globally including China and got paid for it.
  • Reply 3 of 62
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    If Proview is smart they will make a deal now, and not be too greedy about it (a few million not a few billion).



    It's probably too late for them to get even millions. The only deal they're likely to get now is a deal for Apple not to sue them for defamation if they drop all further proceedings.



    BTW, I can't wait to see the response from all the usual Apple Haters who insisted that Apple was in the wrong for not doing sufficient due diligence.
  • Reply 4 of 62
    That glass looks really cool. Talk about imputing brand significance...
  • Reply 5 of 62
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    don't worry, apple is still doomed!

    /s
  • Reply 6 of 62
    That was quick!
  • Reply 7 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleSauce007 View Post


    Proview should get nothing and Apple should not settle.



    If anything Apple should sue them for defamation and wipe them off the map.

    I understand that they have some investment banks behind them, perhaps Apple can sue them too.



    Just look at the evidence...



    http://allthingsd.com/20120216/take-...-ipad-dispute/



    Proview sold the name globally including China and got paid for it.



    Right on!
  • Reply 8 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple can continue to sell the iPad in Shanghai after a local court sided with the company in a trademark dispute over ownership of the "iPad" name.








    The plot thickens!
  • Reply 9 of 62
    iCongrats!!!



    Job well done.
  • Reply 10 of 62
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleSauce007 View Post


    Just look at the evidence...



    http://allthingsd.com/20120216/take-...-ipad-dispute/



    Proview sold the name globally including China and got paid for it.



    I had not seen those documents. Yes, Proview should get nothing.
  • Reply 11 of 62
    Take them to the cleaners.
  • Reply 12 of 62
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleSauce007 View Post


    Proview should get nothing and Apple should not settle.



    From a tactical point of view Apple should settle out of court for the 32M (I think that's the number, is it?) Proview is asking for. They shouldn't risk losing the bigger case. Although I'm not a lawyer so I wouldn't even take my advice on this
  • Reply 13 of 62
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Basty View Post


    iCongrats!!!



    Job well done.



    iCongrats!!!



    Jobs well done
  • Reply 14 of 62
    So is this court hearing finished? I just read an article on WSJ that made it sound like the judge rejected the temporary injunction that Proview was seeking. That they would wait for the results from the Feb. 29 appeal of the lower court ruling against Apple in another region of China and would then proceed with more hearings in the Shanghai case.



    The AI article makes it sound like a done deal and Proview loses in Shanghai. I would like that to be true, but there seem to be conflicting reports.
  • Reply 15 of 62
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GregInPrague View Post


    So is this court hearing finished? I just read an article on WSJ that made it sound like the judge rejected the temporary injunction that Proview was seeking. That they would wait for the results from the Feb. 29 appeal of the lower court ruling against Apple in another region of China and would then proceed with more hearings in the Shanghai case.



    The AI article makes it sound like a done deal and Proview loses in Shanghai. I would like that to be true, but there seem to be conflicting reports.



    What I've read doesn't indicate it's a "done deal". Simply a rejection of the request for a sales injunction I think.
  • Reply 16 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GregInPrague View Post


    So is this court hearing finished? I just read an article on WSJ that made it sound like the judge rejected the temporary injunction that Proview was seeking. That they would wait for the results from the Feb. 29 appeal of the lower court ruling against Apple in another region of China and would then proceed with more hearings in the Shanghai case.



    The AI article makes it sound like a done deal and Proview loses in Shanghai. I would like that to be true, but there seem to be conflicting reports.



    You have to blame poor translation for this. The official Shanghai court ruling is very clear. Shanghai court only rejected a preliminary injunction against Apple. The trademark ownership issue is yet to be decided in another court located in Guangdong.
  • Reply 17 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Basty View Post


    iCongrsts! Job well done.



    Or maybe that should be 'Jobs, Well Done!'



    Or as Yoda from Star Wars would say, "Steve Jobs very well groom Tim Cook I did!"



    Or in warpped English: 'I, Steve Jobs, did groom Tim Cook very well!'

    /

    /

    /
  • Reply 18 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    What I've read doesn't indicate it's a "done deal". Simply a rejection of the request for a sales injunction I think.



    The article here says "Though the Shanghai victory is significant for Apple, it still faces challenges from Proview elsewhere." This sentence only makes sense if the author thinks Apple no longer faces challenges from Proview in Shanghai. Since this is just an early ruling and nothing final it would make sense to say so instead of indicating that Apple has no more challenges to face from Proview in Shanghai. To me it's misleading (or a misunderstanding of the situation on the part of the author).
  • Reply 19 of 62
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GregInPrague View Post


    To me it's misleading (or a misunderstanding of the situation on the part of the author).



    Perhaps either. . .
  • Reply 20 of 62
    All the more reason to throw Proview a bone and talk this over outside the court now. Hand over something in reasonable size, then both Yang can Apple can go home. Life goes on.



    Apple has a bigger fish to fry now. Worker Rights activist case against Apple and Foxconn didn't though to be important, but now the charge sticks. I don't know why but it does.



    Get ProView out of Apple's hair, THEN take care of this Nightline debacle before Obama pick this up, and whacks Apple like pinata later in his election campaign.
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