HONG KONG (Reuters) - A court in southern China has rejected a lawsuit by Apple Inc. accusing a Chinese technology company of infringing its iPad trademark, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, the latest move in a protracted tug-of-war over the name. Apple now no longer can sell its tablet in China under the iPad name.
Apple’s iPad rejected in China
In the lawsuit over the use of the iPad name, the Intermediate People’s Court in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen rejected Apple’s complaint against Proview Technology (Shenzhen). Proview, it said, lawfully registered the iPad trademark as long ago as 2000 for products in a number of countries including China, the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper reported, citing court documents. Apple launched the iPad 10 years later in 2010.
The right to use the iPad name in China is crucial for Apple, where the company is in the process of opening more stores in a booming country with 1.3 billion people. Apple executives have said they have just scratched the surface in China in terms of sales revenues.
With the defeat of Apple, Proview is also taking legal action, seeking 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in compensation from Apple for copyright infringement, Caixin Online reported. Proview is one of the top 5 biggest computer monitor manufacturer in the world.
