Tag Archives: mainland china

Jul 03

Apple's $60M trademark deal opens way for ...

Posted on by

The $60 million Apple paid to a little-known firm for the iPad trademark will let the Cupertino, Calif. company not only start selling its newest tablet there, but also lays the groundwork for an expected smaller iPad this fall, a financial analyst said today.

Earlier Monday, a Chinese court said that the dispute between Apple and Proview, a Chinese PC and display vendor that faces bankruptcy, had been resolved when Apple paid Proview $60 million for the “iPad” trademark in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), or mainland China.

The companies had been locked in a legal battle since late 2011. Apple contended it had purchased the trademark rights in 2009, but Proview convinced several courts in the PRC otherwise, resulting in Apple’s iPad 2, the tablet introduced in the U.S. in March 2011 and in China later that year, being pulled from some store shelves.

Apple has not rolled out the new iPad, the improved model launched four months ago, in the PRC, although it has sold the tablet in Hong Kong and Taiwan, two other markets the company includes in its “Greater China” sales region.

With the Proview problem behind it, Apple can now start selling the new iPad in mainland China, said Brian White, an analyst with Topeka Capital Markets, in a Monday note to clients.

“Today’s iPad settlement is important and opens up the sale of the new iPad,” wrote White, who also noted that Apple had received clearance from the PRC’s Telecommunications Equipment Certification Center in late May.

“The new iPad was supposed to launch in the June quarter,” said White in a follow-up interview Monday, referring to the three-month period that ended Saturday, June 30.

Sales of the new iPad will now start in the third calendar quarter, the current period, said White.

He doesn’t expect that the delay will impact sales overall in the PRC. Instead, iPads that would have been sold last quarter — if Apple had not run into Proview and the Chinese courts — will be this quarter.

Or in some cases, those iPads have already been sold.

Several weeks ago, Apple removed its two-iPads-per-customer restriction in Hong Kong, a move that White read as prompted by heavy demand from customers in the PRC. “Many Apple products make their way over to the mainland [from Hong Kong],” White said.

Even more important to sales in the PRC, said White, is that the end of the trademark ruckus means Apple will be able to unveil a smaller iPad on the mainland later this year.

“We believe the launch of an iPad Mini — we expect September — will prove very popular in China,” said White, who was one of the analysts to first latch onto the idea that Apple would finally produce a so-called “iPad Mini” with a smaller screen, most likely one sized between 7 and 8 inches. the current iPad sports a 10.7-in. display.

“Ultimately, that’s the iPad that will sell in mainland China,” said White, who during his quarterly trips to Asia sees many more 7-in. non-Apple tablets than the larger iPads. “It’s not just the form factor, but also the price point [of an iPad Mini].”

Most analysts who buy into the idea of a small iPad, including White, believe it will be priced between $250 and $300. that range fits nicely into Apple’s existing iPad pricing structure, which starts at $399 for last year’s iPad 2 and $499 for this year’s model.

Andy Hargreaves of Pacific Crest, for example, issued a note to client (download PDF) last Thursday that predicted a $299 8GB 7.85-in. iPad Mini would debut in October. He estimated that Apple could sell 10 million of the smaller tablets in the year’s final quarter, and 35.2 million in Apple’s fiscal year 2013, which runs from Oct. 1, 2012 to Sept. 30, 2013.

A good portion of those smaller tablets would end up in Chinese hands, White said, pointing out the importance Apple places on its Greater China region of the PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The area was responsible for $7.9 billion in sales, or 20% of Apple’s total, for the quarter that ended March 31, a tripling from the same quarter the year before.

“Apple is catering to the Asian market,” said White, because of the sales opportunities there, as he cited a list of moves the company has made, including more China-specific features in the upcoming OS X Mountain Lion, due to launch this month, and the addition of Chinese support to iOS’ Siri voice-activated assistant in the pending iOS 6, likely to be released this fall.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, or subscribe to Gregg’s RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@ix.netcom.com.

Read more about mobile and wireless in Computerworld’s Mobile and Wireless Topic Center.

Apple's $60M trademark deal opens way for iPad Mini in China, says analyst

Feb 27

Proview Brings Fight Over Apple iPad Name to U.S.

Posted on by

Apple’s fight with Chinese company Proview over the iPad name has landed on U.S. soil. Proview filed a lawsuit in a California district court against Apple’s use of the trademark, according to Reuters.

It’s the latest development in the ongoing legal skirmish between Apple and Proview, a computer monitor manufacturer.

Earlier this week, a Shanghai court rejected Proview’s request for a temporary injunction which would have frozen the sale of the iPad in the city. It also accepted Apple’s request to suspend proceedings until a related appeal is decided by a court in the southern province of Guangdong.

At issue is who owns the rights to the iPad name, which Proview has been using in China since 1998. Apple bought the rights to the brand from Proview in 2009, but the Chinese company claims that only applies to Taiwan, not mainland China. a court ruled in Proview’s favor in December, and that reportedly led to the seizure of iPads from stores in cities throughout China.

Apple has also threatened to sue Proview for making misleading statements to the press that could damage Cupertino’s reputation in China.

Apple did not immediately respond to questions about the latest development, but reps have continually reiterated the company’s stance that it bought the rights to the iPad name several years ago.

The Mac maker won a case in Hong Kong, but lower courts in China have ruled in Proview’s favor. Proview has indicated that it’s open to settling, but the litigation is likely far from over.

Apple has repeatedly asserted that it sees China as key territory. It’s the fastest-growing market for the iPhone, and CEO Tim Cook recently said at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference that the company is only scratching the surface in China. Reuters noted that Apple has 76 percent of the tablet PC space in the country.

Another challenge Apple faces in the case is that intellectual property laws are very different in China than they are in the U.S., meaning results from these lawsuits could differ and pose a threat to iPad shipments.

The iPad name fight comes as Apple is also fielding concerns over working conditions at factories owned by suppliers like Foxconn. To that end, ABC’s Nightline aired a special this week that went inside Foxconn’s Chengdu plant, where Apple has instructed a labor group to conduct a thorough audit.

For more, see PCMag’s full review of the iPad 2 and the slideshow below.

For more from Leslie, follow her on Twitter @LesHorn.

For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.

Proview Brings Fight Over Apple iPad Name to U.S.

Feb 22

Company sues Apple over iPad name in Shanghai

Posted on by

SHANGHAI (AP) — Apple defended its right to use the iPad trademark in China in a heated court hearing Wednesday that pitted the electronics giant against a struggling company that denies it sold the mainland China rights to the tablet’s name.

Shenzhen Proview Technology’s lawyer Xie Xianghui argued that the sale of the iPad trademark to Apple inc. by Proview’s Taiwan affiliate in 2009 was invalid.

“Apple has no right to sell iPads under that name,” Xie said. Apple countered that Proview violated the sales contract by failing to transfer the trademark rights in mainland China.

It also contends that the Chinese LCD maker has not marketed or sold its own “IPAD,” or Internet Personal Access Device for years, thus possibly invalidating its claim to the trademark.

The hearing adjourned after a fractious four-hour session which saw the judge repeatedly admonishing both sides to observe proper court protocol as they argued across the courtroom. no date was announced for a judgment or further hearings.

Proview is suing to stop Apple selling the iPad in China under that name. It has also asked commercial authorities in many cities to stop sales of the device. so far, iPads have been pulled from shelves in some Chinese cities but there has been no sign of action at the national level.

Ma Dongxiao, another Proview lawyer, said after the hearing that the company plans to file lawsuits against Apple in more cities.

As evidence in court, Proview presented a flat, thin computer packed in a cardboard box that it said is its “IPAD.”

The company’s lawyers argued the success of the iPad had prevented Proview’s product from succeeding in China. Apple’s side noted that the iPad only began selling in 2010, long after Proview launched its product in 2000.

Apple’s attorneys said that stopping iPad sales in China would cause the company huge losses. The tablet’s popularity has benefited China through tax revenues and jobs created in its manufacturing, they said.

“They have no market, no sales, no customers. they have nothing,” Apple lawyer Qu Miao said of Proview. “The iPad is so popular that it is in short supply. we have to consider the public good.”

That, Xie said, is irrelevant.

“Whether people will go hungry because you can’t sell iPads in China is not the issue,” he said. “The court must rule according to the law. do you absolutely have to sell the product? Can’t you sell it using a different name?”

The trademark case is highlighting mixed attitudes toward Apple in China. Chinese are just as crazy about iPads and iPhones as consumers anywhere else and the devices are manufactured in China, employing hundreds of thousands of people.

But public awareness has been growing of criticism over the labor and environmental practices of huge factories that assemble the devices. Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, which makes iPads in China, has been under intense scrutiny after a spate of worker suicides. It recently raised wages by up to 25 percent in the second major salary hike in less than two years.

Apple has appealed an earlier ruling in favor of Proview in a court in Shenzhen, a city in southern China’s Guangdong province. The Guangdong High Court is due to hear that case on Feb. 29.

Xie on Tuesday said that since no final decisions have been reached in various legal disputes over the issue, both sides were “still able to sit together and reach an out-of-court settlement.” Apple has shown no indication of willingness to settle.

The current trademark battle is unlikely to have much effect on sales of the iPad 2 but could affect future iterations of the device, said Xu Jia, chief editor of the Chinese magazine PC Home.

“It could affect a future iPad 3,” Xu said. “If the official products are banned from being sold in China, we will see how the products in the black market start to have very good sales.”

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, insists it holds the trademark rights to the iPad in China, having purchased them from Proview for 35,000 British pounds ($55,000) through a company set up for that purpose.

A court in Hong Kong, which has a separate legal system from mainland China, ruled in July that Proview had acted with the intention of “injuring Apple.” Proview’s lawyers argued Wednesday that any rulings in Hong Kong were not admissible in Chinese courts.

Researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report.

Follow Elaine Kurtenbach on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ekurtenbachsh

Company sues Apple over iPad name in Shanghai

Feb 20

Apple threatens to sue Chinese firm for defamation ...

Posted on by

Apple has threatened to take legal action against a little-known Chinese firm for inflaming an ongoing dispute over the iPad trademark, alleging that the company’s founder and its lawyers have made misleading statements that could damage the U.S. tech giant’s business in China.

On Monday, Apple sent a letter to Chinese display vendor Proview, demanding its founder Yang Rongshan cease releasing what it said was false information to the media. Apple then warned it would sue for damages caused by “defamatory statements.”

“It is inappropriate to release information contrary to the facts to the media, especially when such disclosures have the effect of wrongfully causing damage to Apple’s reputation,” said the letter, which was provided by a person familiar with the matter.

The companies have been locked in a legal battle to decide who owns the iPad trademark in mainland China, with Apple claiming Proview sold off the trademark rights in 2009. Proview, however, argues it never officially sold off its ownership of the iPad trademark, and is now demanding Apple stop its sale of its tablet in the country.

Monday’s letter was sent just days after Proview’s founder Yang held a press conference and said the trademark rights were never transferred because Apple had bought them from a Taiwan subsidiary company, and not from Proview itself.

Yang further said at the time that he was unaware the Taiwan subsidiary had sold off the iPad trademark rights for mainland China, and that the subsidiary never had the permission to do so.

Apple’s letter, however, contends that Yang knew the trademark talks had taken place, citing emails that were exchanged between Proview and a U.K.-based company set up by Apple to acquire the iPad trademark rights. The letter adds that Proview’s own headquarters negotiated and accepted the offer to buy the trademark for £35,000 (US$55,000), with Proview promising to make the transfer.

Apple’s threat of further legal action comes after Proview has filed its own lawsuits and complaints to request Chinese authorities ban the sale of iPads in the country. on Monday, a Chinese court ruled a local electronics vendors in the country would have to halt the sales of the tablet because of trademark infringement, according to a lawyer with Proview. A Proview representative said on Friday it would drop all legal action if Apple pays US$400 million in compensation.

Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu offered no new comment. The company is appealing a December court decision in Shenzhen, China that rejected its claims to the iPad trademark.

Yang could not be reached for immediate comment.

Apple threatens to sue Chinese firm for defamation in iPad trademark dispute