Apple Pays $60 M to End

11 years, 9 months ago - July 04, 2012

Apple has paid $60 million to end a dispute over who could use the iPad name in China, a court said Monday, giving the US tech giant more certainty in selling its tablet computer in the Chinese market.

Apple paid the sum last week to settle its long-running legal battle with Chinese computer maker Shenzhen Proview Technology.

“This means that the dispute between Apple and Shenzhen Proview over the rights to the iPad brand is resolved in a satisfactory manner,” said the statement posted on the court’s website.

The amount paid by Apple was well below the $400 million demanded by the Chinese firm. Apple subsequently bought the rights for the global trademark including from the Taiwanese affiliate.

But the Shenzhen branch of Proview said the deal did not include the rights for mainland China and the two sides had been locked in a legal feud since the China launch of the iPad in 2010.

Proview urged Chinese authorities to ban the sale, import and export of the iPad late last year after a Guangdong court issued a ruling against Apple.

However, although a few Chinese cities reportedly ordered iPads to be seized, those calls were largely ignored.

The Chinese firm also sued Apple in China’s commercial hub of Shanghai and in the US state of California, but the lawsuits were thrown out. A lawyer for Proview, Xie Xianghui, said the debt-ridden Chinese company had originally sought $400 million in compensation for giving up the rights but settled for the lower amount out of “practical” considerations.

Text by the Independent

We also recommend

Apple 'pulls 60 VPNs from China App Store'

The creators of several Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have criticised Apple's decision to remove their products from its App Store in China.

6 years, 8 months ago

Clampdown in China Restricts 7,000 Foreign Organizations

China took a major step on Thursday in President Xi Jinping’s drive to impose greater control and limit Western influences on Chinese society, as it passed a new law restricting the work of foreign organizations and their local partners, mainly through police supervision.

7 years, 11 months ago

China Stocks Plunge 6% as Rout Continues

China stocks resumed their freefall on Tuesday, taking heavy losses even after the government pumped huge amounts of cash into the economy.

8 years, 2 months ago

Beijing Issues Red Alert Over Air Pollution for the First Time

Officials in Beijing declared on Monday that the thick smog blanketing the city was bad enough to require a red alert, the first time they had raised the alarm to its highest level since an emergency air-pollution response system was announced in 2013.

8 years, 4 months ago

Xi Jinping 'Resigns', According to Typo in Chinese State Media Report

Four Chinese journalists have been suspended after inadvertently – and incorrectly – announcing the resignation of president Xi Jinping.

8 years, 4 months ago

China Lifts One-Child Policy Amid Worries Over Graying Population

China will ease family planning restrictions to allow all couples to have two children after decades of the strict one-child policy, the ruling Communist Party said on Thursday, a move aimed at alleviating demographic restraints on the economy.

8 years, 5 months ago