Apple pays $60m to settle iPad trademark dispute in China

By AGENCIES

SHANGHAI — Apple has paid $60m to Proview Technology (Shenzhen) to end a dispute over the iPad trademark in China that saw the world’s most valuable technology company engaged in a protracted legal tussle with a nearly bankrupt Chinese company.

The lawsuit had hampered some sales and delayed the launch of the new iPad in China. Prior to the launch, Proview requested Chinese authorities in scores of Chinese cities to order resellers to take all iPads off their shelves.

The court-mediated settlement, announced on the website of the Higher People’s Court of Guangdong province, will allow Apple to get on with selling its popular tablet PC in one of its most important markets, analysts said.

"The settlement is great news for Apple. It just allows it to get on with business and stop being distracted. The new iPad has been so late to the Chinese market that if it drags it any longer, Apple will stand to lose quite a bit more," said Teck-Zhung Wong, a Beijing-based analyst with technology research provider IDC.

Apple and Proview Technology (Shenzhen), a unit of Hong Kong-listed Proview International Holdings, have been negotiating to reach a settlement since the court conducted an initial hearing in February, after Apple appealed against a lower court ruling opposing it.

Apple had said it bought ownership of the iPad trademark in various countries from Proview, once a global monitor maker, but the Chinese company argued the US company dealt with only one unit of Proview. A Chinese court ruled that Proview Technology (Shenzhen) owned the name in China. Proview, which registered the iPad trademark in China in 2001, tried in May to sue Apple in the US, but that case was thrown out.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on Monday.

The iPad dominates China’s tablet PC market, with more than 70% market share, though Lenovo’s Lepads and Samsung’s Galaxy Tabs have been gaining traction.

Apple is experiencing heady growth in greater China — China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — with second-quarter sales in the region increasing to $7,9bn. From the launch of the iPad in the third quarter of 2010 to March this year, Apple shipped more than 6-million iPads to mainland China, according to IDC.