The iPad 2
A technology company in China that claims to own the iPad name says it is going to ask Chinese officials to block shipments of Apple’s tablet computer into and out of China.
If Proview Technology’s request is granted, and because China is a key manufacturing base for Apple, global sales of the iPad could take a negative hit.
Proview Technology, reported BBC News Online, said it is contacting officials across China with a view to blocking sales of the product.
“We are now working on a request to China Customs to ban and seize all the import and export of the iPad products that have violated the trademark,” BBC quoteed Proview Technology’s lawyer Xie Xianghui as saying.
Last year, a court agreed that Proview Technology owned the iPad trademark. Apple filed an appeal, and a final hearing is due to start in the southern Guangdong High Court on 29 February. This court’s decision will be final under the Chinese legal process, Reuters reported.
In a statement, Apple said: “We bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago.
“Proview refuses to honour 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.”
