Earlier this year, the iPad fell into a legal grey zone in China. A legal brouhaha meant that in some Chinese shops the iPad was yanked from shelves. The reason was that China already had an iPad, and it wasn’t Apple’s.
Years before Apple ever released the iPad, a Chinese company named Proview trademarked the name “iPad” for a computer.
“IPad” stood for “Internet Personal Access Device”, and it was a desktop that looked nothing like Apple’s tablet (see photo).
While the Taipei branch of Proview sold the name “iPad” to Apple, the Shenzhen branch did not. Thus, Proview contested that Apple could not use the name “iPad” in Mainland China, where the iPad is assembled.
Today, China Daily is reporting that Apple shelled out $US60 million to the nearly bankrupt Proview Shenzhen, securing the rights and making Proview no longer nearly bankrupt.
“My biggest wish is to resolve all these frustrating problems and put them behind me,” Proview Shenzhen boss Yang Long-san told Reuters earlier this year. “If we can resolve all the problems we have now and I have a chance to make a comeback, I’d still want to overtake my old competitors.”
Well, thanks to Apple, Proview has $US60 million to do something other than trademark squat.
Apple settles China iPad trademark dispute for $US60m [China Daily]
Top photo: AP
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