Trademark Ruling Forces iPads off the Shelves in some Chinese Retailers

Apple’s popular iPad tablets have been forced off the shelves in a number of Chinese retailers after a court ruled that a local company owns the rights to the name.

Proview Technology, a Chinese company, filed a lawsuit in Shijiazhuang City against Apple Inc. over trademark infringements and after ruling in favor of the local company, the courts have ordered that iPad tablets be confiscated from shelves in many retail and electronic stores.

After the ruling, an inspection squad from the Xinhua District’s Administration of Industry and Commerce launched a campaign to stop the sale of iPads. While some retailers chose to simply remove the iPad tablets themselves, others received visits from the local Administration of Industry and Commerce who confiscated the tablets. Over two days, a total of 45 iPads were confiscated, according to local reports.

In 2000, Proview Taipei registered the iPad trademark in numerous countries and regions while Proview Shenzhen registered the trademark in mainland China 2001. However, Apple purchased the rights to use the trademark from Proview Taipei in 2010 but Proview Shenzhen believes that it still reserves the right to use the trademark on the Chinese mainland, which triggered the lawsuit and subsequent confiscation of Apple iPads.

Source: China Daily