Apple Shells Out $60 Million To Get Rid Of Pesky iPad Trademark Dispute In China

By July 2, 2012

(Travis Lawton)

Apple is shedding the weight of at least one of its big lawsuits, by agreeing to pay $60 million to a Chinese company that said it rightfully held the trademark for the name iPad in China. Proview Technology’s lawsuit had delayed the launch of the new iPad in that country and may have messed with Apple’s sales there.

Before the launch, Proview had asked Chinese authorities in many cities to order re-sellers to take all iPads off their shelves, notes Reuters. Back in March, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had visited China, in what many saw as an attempt to make nice with authorities there and pave the way for a positive outcome to the lawsuit. At that time, Proview said it wasn’t buying what Cook was selling.

“We firmly believe that no matter what effect Cook’s visit has on government relations, Apple’s intellectual property infringement has already reached a final verdict, and that the company must receive the ultimate punishment according to Chinese law,” wrote a Proview company executive in a blog post in March.

Apple had maintained it bought ownership of the iPad trademark in various countries from Proview, but the Chinese company said Apple only dealt with one unit. An earlier court ruling found that Proview did indeed own the name in China.

The settlement money will go directly into a court-designated account and used to pay Proview’s creditors, said one Reuters source.

Apple pays $60 million to settle China iPad trademark dispute [Reuters]

Tagged With: , , ,
«
»

Comments

  1. AtlantaCPA says:
    July 2, 2012 at 11:07 am

    “Apple Concedes to Shake-Down and Pays Money to Chinese Scammers” FTFY

  2. dragonfire81 says:
    July 2, 2012 at 11:07 am

    *openly wonders if trademarking iCar might be a good idea*

  3. Coffee says:
    July 2, 2012 at 11:09 am

    In other news, Apple is suing Samsung for $61 million.

    • Blueskylaw says:
      July 2, 2012 at 11:23 am

      In other news, Samsung raises rates due to “economic conditions” beyond their control.

  4. BigHeadEd says:
    July 2, 2012 at 11:17 am

    “Shells Out” is right. This is peanuts for Apple given their cash position.

  5. Blueskylaw says:
    July 2, 2012 at 11:21 am

    If this company was in America, Apple would have sued them until they bled out financially dry, but apparently $60,000,000 isn’t a lot of money to pay when you stand to make billions.

  6. The hand that feeds, now with more bacon says:
    July 2, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    “Chinese regulators said Proview clearly owned the mainland name rights under Chinese rules.” from the source article. From what I read in past news, Apple bought the rights to use the iPad trademark essentially everywhere except mainland China.

  7. Kaleey says:
    July 2, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    Interesting:
    “and that the company must receive the ultimate punishment according to Chinese law,” wrote a Proview company executive in a blog post in March.”

    A huge payout is NOT the ultimate punishment according to Chinese law…. unless you are a corporation. So in China, corporations clearly aren’t people either.

  8. smo0 says:
    July 2, 2012 at 5:52 pm

    Consider apple’s revenue – 60 mil is super cheap.

  9. frodolives35 says:
    July 2, 2012 at 10:02 pm

    Am I the only person who sees the irony of China having a problem with trademark infringement.