Displaying items by tag: Proview

China intends to change some of their legislation to prevent local businesses from maliciously appropriating the commercial names of world famous companies and products. The owners of global brands have the right to prohibit the unauthorized registration/use of their names and logos in China. [It is not just world famous brands though as it is a common practice to try and register almost any name that is not registered globally – Ed]

It looks like Apple and ProView have finally come to an agreement over the rights to the iPad Trademark. As most of you might remember Apple used a shell company to purchase the rights to the iPad trademark, but ran afoul of the fact that the company they thought they were buying everything from did not own all of the rights. It also turns out that the shell company Intellectual Property Application Development Limited (IPAD get it) also claimed they would not make any products that competed with ProView’s own Internet Personal Access Device. Things got very ugly very quickly and the result was a very long court battle with Apple and ProView each claiming they were in the right.

We warned of this happening back when we first read about the fight between Apple and the Shenzhen China base Proview. It seems that a government official in China is stating that they are backing Proview in this case. A senior official in the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) stated that the trademark does currently belong to Proview. This comes as a shock to many especially after Tim Cook’s visit to China recently where it was thought he was trying to win support for Apple in this case.

Tim Cook’s recent visit to China has made more than a few headlines especially considering their position they are in right now. Not only do they have the world looking at them over issues at with Foxconn facilities, but they are also in a rather ugly legal battle with ProView over who actually owns the trademark name iPad. On the surface Cook’s visit is to discuss growth and expansion in China (which actually only means more money to Foxconn and the Chinese government). However, Cook is also more than likely there to try and squash the upstart ProView and a level higher than the Chinese court system.

Someone over at Proview in China has been doing some thinking and is now fighting Apple in a very interesting manner. Unless you have been living under a rock you are probably aware that Pro View and Apple are in a trademark battle over the iPad name in China. The back story is a little long, but if you are interested in the whole thing you can read it here, here, and here. For the rest of you it is important to know that Apple used a special group to hide their identity from Proview during the negotiations for the iPad trademark. The company’s name was IP Application Development Limited.

Someone at either Apple or IP Applications (the company that Apple used to secure the Trademark name iPad from Proview) has leaked documents in evidence of their case against Proview. However, (and again after careful reading) we have found some very odd things with these documents. The first thing and one that cannot be overlooked is the release of privileged Client/Attorney emails. These were faxed to Postal Services Plus in San Anselmo, CA although the originating number has been removed from the fax (obviously to protect the guilty party here). But there is more going on here than at first meets the casual eye.

It seems that the press feels that Apple has won the war with Proview in China. There is much crowing about how Apple rightfully owns the trademark for the iPad in all countries including China. There is even a lengthy court document over at “AllThingsD” that covers it. There is, as there always is, a problem though. So many people are concerned with the aggressive tone of the judge that they are missing one very crucial fact.

Apple has been playing a dangerous game for some time now. They have been filing ambiguous patents and copyrights in the hopes that they can protect their mobile devices. For the most part this strategy was working just fine for Apple until a few Judges began to notice a pattern of suppression in their efforts. That was a turning point in Apple legal battles against companies like Samsung, HTC and others in the Android family. Now, however, Apple is facing something they never expected; a smaller corporation is fighting for the copyright they already have on the iPad.