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发帖数: 583 | 1 A Shanghai court has rejected a request by a Chinese technology firm to
stop
Apple Inc. (AAPL-Q513.04----%) selling its iPad tablet computers in the
city, a source said, part of a wider battle for Apple over the trademark
in
China.
The Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court ruled in Apple’s favour after
a hearing on Wednesday, the source with direct knowledge of the ruling
said,
confirming a report by the website of local official newspaper Xinmin
Evening News.
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The Chinese company, Proview Technology (Shenzhen), had said the U.S.
tech
giant was infringing on a trademark it owns in China.
China is important to Apple not only as a consumer market, but also
because
the country is a major production base for the iPad and other Apple
products.
The dispute, which dates back to a disagreement over what was covered in
a
deal for the transfer of the iPad trademark to Apple in 2009, has seen
iPads
seized by authorities in some Chinese cities, and some retailers in some
Chinese cities have stopped selling them under court order.
The victory for Apple follows a string of defeats in other Chinese
courts,
and averted what could have been an embarrassing suspension of iPad sales
in
Apple’s own flagship stores, of which it has three in Shanghai.
However, it was still not clear whether a separate effort by Proview to
seek
compensation in the Shanghai court from Apple for alleged trademark
infringement would be successful.
Apple disputes Proview’s ownership of the trademark, saying it bought the
rights to the name in China from Proview in 2009.
Apple is also appealing a decision from December by a Shenzhen court,
which
ruled in Proview’s favour. A higher court hearing for the appeal is set
for
February 29 in China’s southern province of Guangdong.
Following the Shenzhen case, Proview has launched a multipronged approach
to
get Apple’s iPads off the shelves in the world’s second-biggest economy,
with mixed success.
It has petitioned Chinese customs to stop shipments of the iPad in and
out
of China, although authorities have indicated such a ban would be
difficult
to impose.
Proview has won cases in some smaller cities, forcing some retailers to
stop
selling iPads.
Proview’s parent, Hong Kong-listed Proview International Holdings Ltd.,
was
the first Taiwanese technology company to list in Hong Kong and by the
end
of the 1990s numbered itself among the top five computer monitor makers.
In 1999 it partnered with U.S. chip maker National Semiconductor to
launch
the I-PAD, a stripped-down desktop computer whose main selling points
were
its Internet connectivity and ease of use.
Proview continued to grow, shifting from computer monitors to become the
world’s third-largest OEM manufacturer of flat panel TVs. But by August
2009, when Apple began trademark talks through a proxy, Proview had been
badly hammered by the financial crisis.
Trading of its stock was suspended in Hong Kong in August, 2010, after
creditors in China went to court to recover assets. The company faces
delisting in June if it cannot provide the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with
a
viable rescue plan. |
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