Proview sues Apple over 'iPad' moniker in U.S.

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014


In a surprising turn, a previously unreported court filing reveals that Chinese company Proview is suing Apple over the 'iPad' trademark in a California court, further convoluting the protracted fracas.



The finding, reported on Thursday by The Wall Street Journal, comes on the heels of an announcement from Proview's lawyer Xie Xianghui that the two companies were reportedly ready to negotiate.



Proview filed the suit against Apple in the Superior Court of the State of California in Santa Clara County on Feb. 17, almost one week prior to Xie's claims made on Tuesday. The company made no previous mention of the U.S. complaint.



In the filing, the Shenzhen-based display manufacturer asserts that Apple committed fraud by purchasing the "iPad" name through a proxy company set up by one of the iPhone maker's law firms.



Proview Shenzhen claims that Apple acted "with oppression, fraud and/or malice," when it used U.K.-based IP Application Development, Ltd. to buy the rights from a Taiwanese affiliate in 2009 for a reported 35,000 British pounds, or $55,000.



The U.S. suit differs from its Chinese counterparts that claim the purchase to be void because Proview Shenzhen didn't authorize its affiliate to sell the trademark.



The Hong Kong-based umbrella company for the Chinese firm, Proview International Holdings, alleges that it had no knowledge of the sale despite Apple's assertions to the contrary.



It is not clear if the U.S. claim will affect the outcome of a pending Chinese court case, though it seems that the California filing is an admission that Proview was indeed aware of the trademark's sale.



Apple continues to claim that it rightfully purchased the rights, and has threatened to level a defamation countersuit against the bankrupt Chinese company over the matter.



It was announced earlier today that Proview was unsuccessful in blocking sales of Apple's popular tablet in Shanghai, one of China's most affluent cities.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 48
    ka47ka47 Posts: 25member
    Yeah, good luck. proview is doomed.
  • Reply 2 of 48
    yeah, good luck with that, Proview.
  • Reply 3 of 48
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    They're already bankrupt. The only outcome out of this will be that they will become even more bankrupt, because they're wasting their money.
  • Reply 4 of 48
    Why would it be fraud to try to buy the trademark indirectly?
  • Reply 5 of 48
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by LighteningKid View Post


    Why would it be fraud to try to buy the trademark indirectly?



    It's not fraud.



    ProView is just pissed off at their missed opportunity.
  • Reply 6 of 48
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Michael Scrip View Post


    It's not fraud.



    ProView is just pissed off at their missed opportunity.



    Not only is it not fraud, but it's good business. People do it all the time and it's 100% legal.





    ETA:



    They have no grounds to sue Apple, anyway. Their transaction was with the British company and that's the one they'd have to sue - even if there were grounds. US Courts do not have jurisdiction because Apple was not the party to the transaction involving Proview and Apple will get this thrown out quickly.
  • Reply 7 of 48
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Why does preview even care unless ... unless Apple DOES own the iPad name now?.



    Bunch of whiners. They're officially whining that they sold too low. That's an admission of guilt as far as I'm concerned!!
  • Reply 8 of 48
    Oh yea, and they just remembered about this 2 years later after they are bankrupted. Good luck with that.
  • Reply 9 of 48
    It is definitely time for tort reform here in the USA along the lines of that in Great Britain. As I understand it, If a suit is found to be capricious and completely without merit, the plaintiff pays ALL costs involved in that case. Sounds to me as though Proview might be sweating bullets in such an event.
  • Reply 10 of 48
    Hail Mary
  • Reply 11 of 48
    ktappektappe Posts: 823member
    The U.S. suit weakens the Chinese one by not claiming the same problem(s) as the Chinese suit.



    That is, by omitting the claim that Proview's affiliate wasn't authorized to sell the trademark, the U.S. suit would appear to accept that the trademark was legally sold (even if deceptively via proxy).



    Meanwhile, the Chinese suit doesn't complain about the proxy purchase, something Apple could claim in U.S. court Proview would have included in its Chinese suit if the proxy really was a problem.



    Proview is chopping itself off at the knees with these overreaches. It will be fun to watch them go down in flames.
  • Reply 12 of 48
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    Why does preview even care unless ... Apple DOES own the iPad name now.



    Bunch of whiners. They're officially whining that they sold too low. That's an admission of guilt as far as I'm concerned!!



    This is how the game of "King of the Mountain" is played. If you're the King everyone is trying to take you down. In political campaigns it's the same. Don't be the frontrunner until absolutely necessary. Apple's use of a UK company was smart cover for the King. They got the rights at a bargain basement price, and now ProView is trying to redo history. It ain't going to happen though. Lawyers always go after the King of the Mountain because that's where the money is, but that doesn't mean they'll win the game.
  • Reply 13 of 48
    Lawsuit summary: "If we had known you were Apple, we would have asked for a lot more."



    Welcome to the world of business, Proview! Sorry you sucked at it.
  • Reply 14 of 48
    Lawsuits takes money. It looks like Proview still has some greedy, naive supporters.
  • Reply 15 of 48
    b9botb9bot Posts: 238member
    For a Bankrupt company, they sure have a lot of money to toss at lawyers! I wonder if these lawyers really think they are really going to get paid. Proview makes cheap clones of an Apple designed iMac of the early 2000's. Apple should counter sue for that in the U.S. courts and make sure they go fully bankrupt with no money for there lawyers to continue, end of story, end of Proview.
  • Reply 16 of 48
    Also... Proview? Could there be a more generic, stereotypical name for a company? Sounds like a fly-by-night to me. Pirates.
  • Reply 17 of 48
    realisticrealistic Posts: 1,154member
    Apple should win all these Proview lawsuits. This is all so ridiculous and getting even more so every day.
  • Reply 18 of 48
    Not concerned in the least with this act of desperation. Really pitiful.
  • Reply 19 of 48
    aaronjaaronj Posts: 1,595member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VinitaBoy View Post


    It is definitely time for tort reform here in the USA along the lines of that in Great Britain. As I understand it, If a suit is found to be capricious and completely without merit, the plaintiff pays ALL costs involved in that case. Sounds to me as though Proview might be sweating bullets in such an event.



    That can actually happen in certain states in the US, already. Granted it's rare. But it is on the books in some places.



    ETA: I believe that federal suits are also subject to this.
  • Reply 20 of 48
    Those Proview executives have especially big balls.
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