Apple's US$60m wins iPad name
By Zhu Shenshen |
July 3, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
APPLE Inc is to pay US$60 million to Shenzhen-based Proview to end a two-year dispute over the iPad trademark on the Chinese mainland.
The two sides reached agreement on June 25 and Apple has transferred the money to the account of the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province, the court said on its website yesterday.
The settlement clears the way for Apple to launch its latest iPad in its second largest market after the United States. China contributed US$7.9 billion, or about 20 percent of Apple's revenue, during its second fiscal quarter in 2012, the company said.
The Chinese mainland will be one of the last markets to get the third-generation iPad after its debut in the US in March.
Proview's lawyer, Xie Xianghui, said the sum was less than expected but "a realistic result" that was acceptable.
The company, which owes around US$400 million to creditors including several state-owned banks, had been hoping for compensation anywhere from US$400 million to US$3 billion.
Xie said Proview might still be declared bankrupt in a separate legal proceeding despite the infusion of settlement money.
Apple China did not comment on the case yesterday.
"It's a good result for both sides," Wang Ying, an analyst at Analysys International, a Beijing-based research firm, said. "Apple can launch the new iPad now. You can't let consumers wait too long."
The price of the new iPad won't be affected by the settlement because of the company's global pricing system, Wang said.
Apple sold 1.68 million iPads on the Chinese mainland last year, a 50 percent growth from the previous year.
It still dominates with a 71 percent share of the domestic tablet computer market, according to Analysys.
Before the settlement, Apple had obtained the licenses it needs to launch the new Pad on the domestic market. But no date for a mainland launch has been set so far.
The long-running dispute centered on whether Proview's Taiwan unit, which Apple paid 35,000 pounds (US$54,800) in 2009 to use the iPad name, had the rights to the trademark on the mainland.
Proview Shenzhen said that it owned that right and sued Apple, also asking domestic retailers to stop selling iPads.
Later, the Chinese government intervened and the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province worked to arrange a settlement.
The outcome reflects Chinese courts' preference for encouraging adversaries in commercial disputes to settle instead of pushing for a ruling, Stan Abrams, an American lawyer who teaches intellectual property law at Beijing's Central University of Finance and Economics, told The Associated Press. He said the relatively small size of the settlement by Apple's standards suggested Proview gave in, possibly under pressure from its creditors or the court.
All Apple's iPads are made in the mainland by Foxconn Technologies Group, which employs more than 1 million people in sprawling factories. Brazil's government says Taiwan-based Foxconn plans to open factories there to produce iPads and other products.
The value of related cases may rise after the Apple-Proview case, according to intellectual property rights lawyer Liu Chunrong, partner of the Shanghai Panocean Law Firm. One such may involve Chinese home appliance maker Haier, which has registered iTV as a trademark on the Chinese mainland. Apple is expected to launch televisions and it is believed the company would use iTV as the name for the products.
In 2010, Apple paid Beijing-based Hanwang US$3.65 million to use the iPhone trademark on the Chinese mainland.
The two sides reached agreement on June 25 and Apple has transferred the money to the account of the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province, the court said on its website yesterday.
The settlement clears the way for Apple to launch its latest iPad in its second largest market after the United States. China contributed US$7.9 billion, or about 20 percent of Apple's revenue, during its second fiscal quarter in 2012, the company said.
The Chinese mainland will be one of the last markets to get the third-generation iPad after its debut in the US in March.
Proview's lawyer, Xie Xianghui, said the sum was less than expected but "a realistic result" that was acceptable.
The company, which owes around US$400 million to creditors including several state-owned banks, had been hoping for compensation anywhere from US$400 million to US$3 billion.
Xie said Proview might still be declared bankrupt in a separate legal proceeding despite the infusion of settlement money.
Apple China did not comment on the case yesterday.
"It's a good result for both sides," Wang Ying, an analyst at Analysys International, a Beijing-based research firm, said. "Apple can launch the new iPad now. You can't let consumers wait too long."
The price of the new iPad won't be affected by the settlement because of the company's global pricing system, Wang said.
Apple sold 1.68 million iPads on the Chinese mainland last year, a 50 percent growth from the previous year.
It still dominates with a 71 percent share of the domestic tablet computer market, according to Analysys.
Before the settlement, Apple had obtained the licenses it needs to launch the new Pad on the domestic market. But no date for a mainland launch has been set so far.
The long-running dispute centered on whether Proview's Taiwan unit, which Apple paid 35,000 pounds (US$54,800) in 2009 to use the iPad name, had the rights to the trademark on the mainland.
Proview Shenzhen said that it owned that right and sued Apple, also asking domestic retailers to stop selling iPads.
Later, the Chinese government intervened and the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province worked to arrange a settlement.
The outcome reflects Chinese courts' preference for encouraging adversaries in commercial disputes to settle instead of pushing for a ruling, Stan Abrams, an American lawyer who teaches intellectual property law at Beijing's Central University of Finance and Economics, told The Associated Press. He said the relatively small size of the settlement by Apple's standards suggested Proview gave in, possibly under pressure from its creditors or the court.
All Apple's iPads are made in the mainland by Foxconn Technologies Group, which employs more than 1 million people in sprawling factories. Brazil's government says Taiwan-based Foxconn plans to open factories there to produce iPads and other products.
The value of related cases may rise after the Apple-Proview case, according to intellectual property rights lawyer Liu Chunrong, partner of the Shanghai Panocean Law Firm. One such may involve Chinese home appliance maker Haier, which has registered iTV as a trademark on the Chinese mainland. Apple is expected to launch televisions and it is believed the company would use iTV as the name for the products.
In 2010, Apple paid Beijing-based Hanwang US$3.65 million to use the iPhone trademark on the Chinese mainland.
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