Industry experts expect the technology company Apple to release a new iPad on
March seventh. Apple sold over fifteen million iPads in the final three months
of last year alone. Now the popular computer tablet is in its third
generation.
But as Apple prepares to launch a new iPad, it faces legal cases
in China over rights to the name of the device.
On Wednesday, a court in
Guangdong province heard a case brought by the Chinese
company Proview Technology. Proview is based in Shenzhen in China’s south, and
belongs to Proview International Holdings Ltd. The company says it holds the
legal rights to the iPad name in China. Apple says it bought the iPad trademark
in China and nine other countries from a business owned by Proview in two
thousand nine.
A lawyer for Proview, Xie Xianghui, said Wednesday that he
believes Apple has not provided new evidence for the case in Guangdong. Apple is
appealing a decision by a lower court. The court ruled that the company does not
own the iPad name.
Another lawyer for Proview, Xiao Caiyuan, said the legal
issue over the trademark is clear. He said his company is fighting Apple over
the idea of ownership. He also said Proview would settle with Apple for the
right amount of money.
Proview says it holds the trademark for the name of a
device called an Internet Personal Access Device, or IPAD. The device looks like
a desktop computer. Proview says it sold about twenty thousand of them over
about ten years. It says it received the trademark or legal rights to the name
in two thousand one.
An advertisement for Proview’s "IPAD" shows that it
looks like Apple’s iMac.
Proview is in financial trouble. It has reported
losses since two thousand eight and cut thousands of workers. Apple’s legal team
says that Proview is nearing financial failure. They say it has no product, no
buyers or suppliers.
Apple argues a ruling against it would harm the
interests of buyers in China. Apple’s holds seventy-six percent of the tablet
computer market in the country with its iPad.
A final decision by the high
court in Guangdong is expected to take weeks.
Still, at least for now, the
legal battle has not hurt Apple’s stock price. The technology company has the
most valuable publicly traded stock in the world, with a total value of about
five hundred billion dollars.
