Apple tactics in China iPad deal unusual: experts

(Reuters) – Proview Electronics, the firm trying to stop Apple Inc from using the iPad name in China, has a plausible claim over the unusual methods Apple used to conceal its
identity when attempting to acquire Proview’s trademarks, according to several legal experts.

But Apple also has some strong defenses against a lawsuit Proview filed last week in California – including the argument that Proview cannot sue Apple, but can only sue the corporation that actually bought the trademarks, the experts said.

Apple announced its iPad tablet computer in January 2010 and the device has become phenomenally popular. During the last 14 weeks of 2011 Apple sold 15.43 million
iPads. China represents a potentially huge market for the device.

Proview has sued Apple in China, requesting that sales of Apple’s iPads be suspended across the country because of the trademark dispute. Authorities in several Chinese cities, such as Shijiazhuang and Huizhou, have already banned the sale of iPads, citing
the legal dispute.

Proview extended the battle to American shores last week by accusing Apple of fraud in a lawsuit filed in a California state court. According to the complaint, Apple’s lawyers formed an opaque special purpose entity to buy the iPad trademark.

They also sent an email with the allegedly false promise that the entity would not be competing with Proview, the suit said.

Representatives for Apple did not respond to a request for comment, but the company has said that it bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=13830

Posted by Awais Khan on Feb 25 2012. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry