Proview Sues Apple in U.S. Over Alleged Deception in iPad Trademark Purchase

[MacRumors]

Reuters reports that the dispute over the iPad trademark in China has taken an interesting turn, with Proview Technology filing suit against Apple in the United States over alleged deception related to the deal between the two companies.




Apple set up a dummy corporation known as IP Application Development Ltd (IPAD) to conduct negotiations with Proview over the trademark back in 2009, and Proview's suit alleges that Apple's efforts to keep its identity secret amounted to fraud.

In its filing, Proview alleged lawyers for IPAD repeatedly said it would not be competing with the Chinese firm, and refused to say why they needed the trademark.

Those representations were made "with the intent to defraud and induce the plaintiffs to enter into the agreement," Proview said in the filing dated February 17, requesting an unspecified amount of damages.

The use of dummy corporations is not particularly unusual in business negotiations, with companies sometimes seeking to keep their identities secret as they work to acquire intellectual property and other assets in support of products under development. By keeping their identities secret, high-profile companies hope to avoid having their plans become public while also looking to strike more favorable deals with companies who think they are dealing with a small business rather than a deep-pocketed industry leader.

MacRumors discovered in the weeks leading up to the introduction of the original iPad in January 2010 that Apple had used a similar dummy corporation with a nearly identical name of IP Application Development LLC to register its own iPad trademarks.

Apple claims that its IPAD dummy corporation purchased the rights to the iPad trademark from Proview in ten countries back in December 2009. Proview has claimed that the transaction did not include the Chinese rights, and the two companies are currently facing off in a number of Chinese courts over the matter. A Hong Kong court ruled last year that Proview and several of its subsidiaries and associated companies had conspired to extort millions of dollars of Apple's by refusing to turn over the Chinese rights to the trademark, but Chinese courts have in several cases sided with Proview.

Article Link: Proview Sues Apple in U.S. Over Alleged Deception in iPad Trademark Purchase

[chriscrk]

So now they're bringing a bad name for themselves in the US as well.

[MikhailT]

Huh?

Companies are not obligated to explain why they want to buy the trademarks and if Proview had doubts, they could've say no to the deals.

Also, Proview had no tablets, so Apple is not competing against them.

This is just a scare tactic to try to get Apple to pay up.

[peteullo]

I can't believe this company just won't give up already. There is no way the US court will penalize its most valuable company for a company that is near bankrupt and from a foreign country.

[maclancer]

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Good Luck Proview, you will need it... lol

[maclancer]

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the iPad trademark has been bought originally from Fujitsu who owns the rights worldwide. I don't know why Proview is wasting their time.

[Sedulous]

Originally Posted by maclancer

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the iPad trademark has been bought originally from Fuji who owns the rights worldwide. I don't know why Proview is wasting their time.

So what is the deal? Who actually owns the trademark?

[Joe The Dragon]

well in the UK apple will have a hard time having a tv named itv

[Quicklite]

Looks like Proview is putting down very serious lawyer fund, and must expect disproportionate settlement from Apple. One might ask whether they would be in better financial position, had they been as keen in running their ventures.

[faroZ06]

Originally Posted by peteullo

I can't believe this company just won't give up already. There is no way the US court will penalize its most valuable company for a company that is near bankrupt and from a foreign country.

Haha, it's OUR turn to ignore foreign lawsuits. Seriously, any foreign website gets off the hook with these things.

[maclancer]

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Originally Posted by Sedulous

So what is the deal? Who actually owns the trademark?

Apple bought the trademark from Fujitsu

[demodave]

This is like the definition of chutzpah: when a child murders his or her own parent with an axe and then enters a plea for mercy with the court on account of being an orphan.

Proview, please roll over and play dead.

[Peace]

"In its filing, Proview alleged lawyers for IPAD repeatedly said it would not be competing with the Chinese firm, and refused to say why they needed the trademark."

That's very strange for a company that did this :

[Luckybobby]

Proview sounds like an annoying little sister that always cries about everything.

[macguy360]

This coming from a company in a country that doesn't believe in copyright laws. They believe the law of "If you can make a product for less money than another company then you have the complete rights to do so".

Consider that you can buy chinese scooters made with exact Honda engine replicas.
Consider you can buy knock off Ipads, iPhones, macbooks etc that are all breaking copyright laws.

I hope that proview is sucessful in stopping exports of the Ipad from China because this means that Apple will stop producing them in China. I would rather see them produced in the U.S. but i doubt that will happen anytime soon.

[pdjudd]

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Originally Posted by Joe The Dragon

well in the UK apple will have a hard time having a tv named itv

Luckily apple doesn't make a product called "iTV"

[MikhailT]

Originally Posted by Sedulous

So what is the deal? Who actually owns the trademark?

Here's the supporting documentations that Apple used in the Chinese court that just denied Proview's request for an injunction against iPad: http://allthingsd.com/20120216/take-...D_yahoo_ticker

If you look at that evidence, Apple has the trademarks including the Chinese ones.

[Peace]

If Proview is bankrupt who is paying all these legal fees ?

[demodave]

Originally Posted by Joe The Dragon

well in the UK apple will have a hard time having a tv named itv

Joe, I will submit that you don't know that. After all, England's flag is Saint George's Cross. You do know what he did to dragons, don't you?

The England broadcast brand is ITV. Apple's current brand is Apple TV, but I don't see why the distinction between iTV and ITV would not be sufficient.

Thank goodness I am not a trademark lawyer.

[MonkeyBrainz]

Originally Posted by demodave

Joe, I will submit that you don't know that. After all, England's flag is Saint George's Cross. You do know what he did to dragons, don't you?

The England broadcast brand is ITV. Apple's current brand is Apple TV, but I don't see why the distinction between iTV and ITV would not be sufficient.

Thank goodness I am not a trademark lawyer.

This very ordeal is a dispute of IPAD and iPad.

[DeathChill]

Originally Posted by Peace

If Proview is bankrupt who is paying all these legal fees ?

I was also very curious about this.

[MikhailT]

Originally Posted by Peace

If Proview is bankrupt who is paying all these legal fees ?

A group of Chinese banks controls all assets of Proview right now.

[Peace]

Originally Posted by MikhailT

A group of Chinese banks controls all assets of Proview right now.

I knew that. I just didn't want to speculate on the banks relationship with Samsung.

[nagromme]

So this common practice is deception... and yet despite what the Hong Kong court decided in Apple’s favor, it’s NOT deception for Proview (the parent company) to sell the trademark and state that it included China, then have their own subsidiary (also called Proview) magically disagree, two years later, with the deal the parent company made. I see

(I wonder if the name was coincidence, or an intended Apple rip-off, albeit a legal one? I believe Proview trademarked iPAD in 1998, same year the iMac came out—first of Apple's iName products. And ProView's iPAD all-in-one, as Peace posted above, looks suspiciously like that first iMac too! Look at the holes and handles. None of which seems very relevant today, but it would be ironic if the whole thing started with Proview trying to make a knock-off iMac and get it confused on both style and name with the real thing!)

[Sedulous]

Originally Posted by MikhailT

Here's the supporting documentations that Apple used in the Chinese court that just denied Proview's request for an injunction against iPad: http://allthingsd.com/20120216/take-...D_yahoo_ticker

If you look at that evidence, Apple has the trademarks including the Chinese ones.

Wow, that is incredibly conclusive. How could Proview even think it has a case? Even more WOW, how could the chinese courts side with them!?!