In this Feb. 28, 2012 file photo, a man walks by an advertisement of Apple’s iPad 2 in Shanghai, China. Apple has agreed to pay China’s Shenzhen Proview Technology $60 million to settle a dispute over ownership of the iPad name, a court announced Monday, July 2, 2012, removing a potential obstacle to sales of the popular tablet computer in the key Chinese market. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)JOE McDONALD
BEIJING (AP) – Apple has paid $60 million to settle a dispute in China over ownership of the iPad name, a court announced Monday, removing a potential obstacle to sales of the popular tablet computer in the key Chinese market.
Apple’s dispute with Shenzhen Proview Technology highlighted the possible pitfalls for global companies in China’s infant trademark system. It also posed a challenge for the communist government, which wants to attract technology investors to develop China’s economy.
Apple Inc. says it bought the global rights to the iPad name from Proview in 2009 but Chinese authorities say the rights in China were never transferred. A Chinese court ruled in December that Proview still owned the name in China. Proview, which is struggling financially, asked Chinese authorities to seize iPads in an apparent effort to pressure Apple to settle.
“The iPad dispute resolution is ended,” the Guangdong High People’s Court said in a statement. “Apple Inc. has transferred $60 million to the account of the Guangdong High Court as requested in the mediation letter.”