Apple settle iPad trademark dispute by paying $60 million
Apple Inc. has agreed to pay $60 million in order to settle a trademark dispute that could have jeopardized the sale of iPads in China.
Apple’s opponent in the case was a Hong Kong-based electronics manufacturing company named Proview International Holdings Ltd. that previously had designed a computer known as the Internet Personal Access Device (iPAD). In 2009, Apple reportedly paid an amount of $55,000 to Proview’s Taiwanese associate in order to gain the global rights to the iPad trademark, but Proview’s Shenzhen subsidiary, Proview Technology, asserted that the Taiwan unit could not sell naming rights for mainland China.
In the following months, the Chinese company battled to freeze the import or sale of Apple’s tablet computer and at one point trying to get a payout of reported $1.6 billion payout from the tech giant. A Shenzhen court had arrayed with Proview last December.
This settlement by Apple guarantee that Apple can now continue to sell the iPad in its second largest market outside the U.S. However, according to reports from Reuters, Proview, would not be able to enjoy the cash it got from Apple as the amount will go into a court-designated account and, from there, to several creditors of the company.
Trademark Registration in Japan
Patent Attorney：Hiroshi Oogai
Address：304 BUREX Hirakawacho 1-5-15 Hirakawa-cho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Phone：＋81-3-4570-0792
Mail：contact @ trademark-registration-japan.com
