More Proview Empty Talk in iPad Dispute 唯冠寻求禁售新款iPad将是徒劳之举

By newsdoug on April 6, 2012

It’s been a week since I last wrote about Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and even longer since I wrote about its simmering trademark dispute with a failing Chinese electronics company, so I thought I would close out this Good Friday with some comments on the latest development in that story, which appears to be slowly turning in Apple’s favor. I should start off this post by repeating that I firmly support Apple in this dispute, not because I favor the big guy over the little guy, but rather because I think Apple is in the right and Beijing should send a clear signal that it won’t allow its legal system to become a playground for irresponsible companies to extort money. But let’s move beyond that and look at the latest news, which has the company, a nearly insolvent PC monitor maker named Proview (HKEx: 334), seeking to stop the import of Apple’s new iPad model to China pending resolution of the dispute over rights to the iPad name in China. (English article) Proview’s latest move comes just days after one of its creditors launched a failed bid to push the company into bankruptcy, with Chinese officials preferring to wait until the iPad trademark dispute is resolved. A Chinese court ruled in Proview’s favor in the case last year, after the company argued it had registered the trademark in China a decade ago, even though it stopped producing any products under the iPad name several years ago. Apple had purchased rights to the iPad name in a number of markets, including China, under a broader deal before the release of its popular line of tablet computers in 2010. But for reasons that have yet to be fully explained, at least not in the media, the trademark transfer was never officially consummated in China and thus Proview was still technically the holder of the iPad name for that market. Now, rather than admit it failed to complete its part of the iPad name sale, the financially struggling Proview is seeking to use its own failure to keep its word, Proview is attempting to earn some much-needed extra money by selling Apple a trademark that it technically already sold under the earlier deal. Apple, which has appealed the case to a higher court, won a victory in Shanghai earlier this year when a court in that city ruled that Proview couldn’t block the sale of iPads in Shanghai until the appeals court made its final ruling. (previous post) I suspect that any attempts to stop import of the new iPads by Proview under this latest move will also meet with similar failure, as Chinese customs officials probably don’t want to get involved in this dispute until they absolutely have to. Meantime, I also suspect that top leaders in Beijing may be getting involved in this case, following a meeting last week between Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and Chinese premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang (previous post), and I would say the chances for a final ruling in Apple’s favor are now better than 50 percent.

Bottom line: Proview’s latest move to block the new iPad from entering China is mostly talk, as the odds for victory in its trademark dispute with Apple sink below 50 percent.

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