Apple has been fighting a long battle with Chinese company Proview over the right to use the name “iPad” in China. The issue stems from the sale of the iPad name copyright to Apple in 2009 for $54,000. The sale was handled by UK company IP Application Development on behalf of Proview Taiwan, but parent company Proview Technology deemed the sale invalid, and therefore claims it still owns the copyright to the name.
What followed was a couple of lawsuits demanding $1.6 million and then $38 million for copyright infringement. As the iPad was already on sale in China, it also meant the threat of it being taken off store shelves, a threat made real by Proview demanding an import and export ban of the “Made in China” tablet. If that happened, Apple would have no way of manufacturing and supplying the iPad to any market, not just China.
The dispute went to court in Guangdong where the two companies were urged to come to some kind of agreement. That agreement has now happened with Apple paying $60 million in order to settle the dispute and move on.
Although almost double the previous compensation demand from Proview, it’s pocket change for Apple. The most important thing is that the Chinese market remains open for the sale of iPads, and Apple can freely manufacture and export the tablet.
Hopefully it also means that Apple has finally secured worldwide ownership of the iPad name and will not face any more lawsuits from Proview, or any other company for that matter.
Read more at BBC News
No comments:
Post a Comment