Apple Inc. defended itself in a local court here Wednesday against allegations that it does not own rights to the iPad trademark in China, a challenge that threatens to prevent the company from selling one of its most popular products in one of its fastest growing markets.The heated, four-hour session at the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court ended, though, without the local district judge issuing any ruling or giving any public indication of how the case would be resolved.
The session came after a Chinese company called Proview International succeeded in blocking sales of the iPad in several smaller Chinese cities, and getting the authorities in several cities to seize iPads from some retailers.
But Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai continue to stock and sell the iPad, and are among the busiest Apple stores in the world.
The case pits Apple, the technology Goliath, against a small Chinese computer display maker that has already filed for bankruptcy but seems determined to force Apple to cough up a fortune for the rights to the trademark.
Apple, which is based in Cupertino, Calif., contends that one of its subsidiaries acquired the rights to the iPad trademark from Proview in 2009, for about $55,000.
In a statement released Wednesday, Apple said: “We bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago. Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China and a Hong Kong court has sided with Apple in this matter. Our case is still pending in mainland China.” But Proview claims that Apple did not obtain all the rights, and contends its Shenzhen subsidiary retains the rights in China.
Xie Xianghui, one of the lawyers representing Proview, said in a telephone interview Wednesday: “There’s no result from today’s hearing. Both sides just exchanged new evidence.” Meanwhile, Proview continues to do all it can to disrupt Apple’s sales of the iPad in China, going to authorities in various cities claiming it owns the rights.
