Lawyers for Apple Inc produced a letter signed by Proview Technology (Shenzhen) Chairman Yang Rongshan at a court hearing in south China's Guangdong Province yesterday, claiming it proved the company was involved in a 2009 deal which transferred rights to the iPad trademark on China's mainland to Apple.
However, Proview Technology (Shenzhen) told the court it had never transferred its right to the iPad trademark on the Chinese mainland to anyone.
The hearing, at Guangdong Higher People's Court, could determine whether Apple can continue to sell its widely popular tablet computer on the Chinese mainland.
The US firm appealed to the court after a lower court in Guangdong ruled in favor of Proview.
Hundreds of people, including Chinese and foreign media, industrial lawyers and Apple fans attended the hearing, but no rulings were made yesterday.
The court's verdict is usually final under Chinese law, and will set a precedent for other cases in the Chinese mainland.
Apple said it bought ownership of the iPad trademark in 10 countries and regions, including China, from Proview in 2009 but the Shenzhen company argued that the US firm dealt with only one unit of Proview and that it retained rights to the iPad name on the Chinese mainland.
Proview also contended that Apple intentionally misled it when it bought iPad trademarks through a company called IP Application Development Ltd that concealed it was acting on Apple's behalf.
"Apple meticulously formed a band of lawyers to buy the trademark, but the transacted amount was given to Taiwan's Proview, not Shenzhen's Proview," Xie Xianghui, a lawyer for Proview, told the court.
Xie said Apple had dealt with wrong subsidiary in relation to the rights for the mainland.
However, Apple claimed the letter signed by Yang, who is also chairman of the Taiwan-based parent group Proview International Holdings, proved that the Shenzhen company was involved in the 2009 deal. Apple said the letter was compelling evidence against Proview.
"The deal was established between IP Application Development and Proview International Holdings. The money was transferred to Taiwan's Proview because it was acting on behalf of the Proview Group, including Shenzhen's Proview," a lawyer for Apple said.
The lawyer told the court: "In the eyes of the consumer, iPad is associated with Apple. If the court decides that Proview wins the case, then this will confuse consumers and hurt their interests."
After Proview won the earlier ruling in Shenzhen, industry and commerce administrations in a couple of cities seized iPads from retailers. Other Chinese retailers, including electronics seller Suning, halted sales of iPads as the trademark dispute intensified.
Last week, a Shanghai court rejected Proview's request to stop Apple selling iPads in Shanghai, and suspended a hearing into the trademark dispute pending the Guangdong court's ruling.
On Tuesday, Proview announced it was seeking to regain worldwide rights to the iPad name and is suing Apple in the United States, according to The Associated Press. Apart from having the trademark sale voided, it is seeking compensation, a share of Apple's profits from "unfair competition" and for Apple to stop using the trademark.
Source:shanghaidaily