Apple in legal battle as company threatens to halt exports of Chinese-made iPads saying it copyrighted name in 2001
Chinese authorities have seized iPads from retailers in an escalating trademark dispute between Apple and a Chinese company that threatens to disrupt global sales of the tablet.
Shenzhen Proview Technology registered the iPad trademark in China in 2001. Apple bought rights to the name from a Taiwanese company affiliated with Proview, but the mainland firm says it still owns the name in China. A Chinese court rejected Apple's claim to the name in China last year.
iPads were seized in the central city of Zhengzhou and the eastern port of Qingdao. Seizures were reported earlier in the cities of Shijiazhuang and Xuzhou.
Proview has notified regulators in more than 40 cities of possible trademark violations and has threatened to ask customs officials to stop imports and exports of iPads, which are manufactured in China.
Apple has appealed the Chinese court ruling, citing a Hong Kong court ruling last year that concluded Proview and the company in Taiwan were both controlled by the same Taiwanese businessman, Yang Long-san.
The judge in that case said the companies had acted together "with the common intention of injuring Apple" and granted a temporary order barring Proview from transferring rights to the iPad name in China.
Chinese media say Proview is deeply in debt and observers have suggested the company needs a large settlement to repay creditors.
"We've appealed to Apple through its agents to have a settlement, but so far we haven't received any response from them," said a Proview lawyer, Xie Xianghui. He declined to say how much Proview wants.