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Chinese Authorities and Retailers Removing iPads from Sale Over Trademark Issues?
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Apple will be fine
So far it is not a nationwide action. As far as I know, the action was only took by some local AIC, and the number of units got "confiscated" is very small.
I must admit that intellectual property protection is very poor in China, but I don't think it's very difficult for Apple to invest at least enough money to discover that "Proview (Shen Zhen)" actually has the "IPAD", trademark under its name and using "iPad" for trademark is not allowed (I don't know why, but apparently it's true in China). I work in a Apple authorized MFI (made for iPod) company, and we always look at the AIC website to find out if a trademark is already in use before we name our product in our product plan, which we must supply to Apple before we start developing a MFI products. I don't know why the legal department in Apple failed to do that.
I love Apple, I don't want to ask my friend in Hong Kong to help me every time Apple releases a new product. China is not a perfect place for tech companies like Apple, but it is definitely not a good idea to ignore the market.
P.S. The second trial will take place on 29th Feb, if Apple wins that, everything will be fine, otherwise Apple may really need to start consider to rename iPad in China. After all, it is the product that matters, nobody would want an IPAD from Proview, let they have their precious name and die with it. (the company's survival is actually at stake).
So far it is not a nationwide action. As far as I know, the action was only took by some local AIC, and the number of units got "confiscated" is very small.
I must admit that intellectual property protection is very poor in China, but I don't think it's very difficult for Apple to invest at least enough money to discover that "Proview (Shen Zhen)" actually has the "IPAD", trademark under its name and using "iPad" for trademark is not allowed (I don't know why, but apparently it's true in China). I work in a Apple authorized MFI (made for iPod) company, and we always look at the AIC website to find out if a trademark is already in use before we name our product in our product plan, which we must supply to Apple before we start developing a MFI products. I don't know why the legal department in Apple failed to do that.
I love Apple, I don't want to ask my friend in Hong Kong to help me every time Apple releases a new product. China is not a perfect place for tech companies like Apple, but it is definitely not a good idea to ignore the market.
P.S. The second trial will take place on 29th Feb, if Apple wins that, everything will be fine, otherwise Apple may really need to start consider to rename iPad in China. After all, it is the product that matters, nobody would want an IPAD from Proview, let they have their precious name and die with it. (the company's survival is actually at stake).
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just buy them
This pathetic little company wants over a billion dollars from Apple? I hihgly doubt they're worth anything remotely close to that. I'd absolutely love to see Apple buy them, fire every person who had anything to do with bringing on the lawsuit, make sure they're lucky to get a job flipping burgers for the rest of their lives, then burn the building down and use the ashes to stuff their chairs.
Set a precedent like that, and the chances anyone else tries the same crap would be pretty slim.
And the hypocrisy of Apple getting in trouble by Chinese authorities for copyright infringement is so thick, you can cut it with a knife. Too bad the Chinese market is a HUGE opportunity for Apple. I remember reading a post on some Mac blog after Apple just released their 4th quarter earnings that said Apple is expected to sell 40 million iPhones in China the first quarter after it's opened up to the other big mobile carrier there. That's 3 million more than they sold worldwide last quarter. China alone could easily double Apple's overall sales in the next year, so Apple needs China pretty badly. I just hope the future isn't ridden with bullcrap like this.
This pathetic little company wants over a billion dollars from Apple? I hihgly doubt they're worth anything remotely close to that. I'd absolutely love to see Apple buy them, fire every person who had anything to do with bringing on the lawsuit, make sure they're lucky to get a job flipping burgers for the rest of their lives, then burn the building down and use the ashes to stuff their chairs.
Set a precedent like that, and the chances anyone else tries the same crap would be pretty slim.
And the hypocrisy of Apple getting in trouble by Chinese authorities for copyright infringement is so thick, you can cut it with a knife. Too bad the Chinese market is a HUGE opportunity for Apple. I remember reading a post on some Mac blog after Apple just released their 4th quarter earnings that said Apple is expected to sell 40 million iPhones in China the first quarter after it's opened up to the other big mobile carrier there. That's 3 million more than they sold worldwide last quarter. China alone could easily double Apple's overall sales in the next year, so Apple needs China pretty badly. I just hope the future isn't ridden with bullcrap like this.
wow your fanboy blindness has me worried about humanity.
god forbid someone sues Apple and not the other way around. even if they just want to make some fast cash, they still own that name so its their right, no matter how little the company.
apple sued a little tea house company here for using an apple in their logo, thats just as insane
You've gone too far off towards the other end. China would hardly be a dumping ground without American corporations, sure there wouldn't be double digit GDP growth but i think they'll be fine.
The difference is that "iPad" is a REGISTERED TRADEMARK in China. The examples you cited are designs and probably not protected by law. There's no legal basis to "crack down" on that and I haven't heard BMW or Ford complaining.
There's a huge difference between copyright infringement by private enterprises and government-endorsed infringement. Let's not confuse the two. Enforcement of copyright may be more lax than it is in the US, but it's not as if the government is encouraging private enterprises to illegally copy the products of foreign companies. "China" is not stealing protected intellectual property. Maybe certain companies in China are, but Chinese companies =\= China.
Apple!! How do ya like those Apples! Seems that China wont be bullied by Apple! Hoorah for the little guy!
Yeah, it's the entire Chinese state apparatus that's the little guy, not Apple.
That's the thing about the Chinese - they refuse to enforce anybody's rights but their own perceived rights. It doesn't matter how big a customer Apple is: they're the biggest electronics company on the planet. If they were forced to leave (or more likely withdraw the iPad from sale, or sell it under a different name), it would do a lot of damage to China's credibility.
China needs its credibility. It's not the only country with a demographic boom and massive cheap labour force. India beckons.
This is just a ridiculous statement. I'm American, so I'm not trying to defend the Chinese, but I find the level of anti-Chinese sentiment in the US increasingly intolerable.
What's at issue is a trademark right under CHINESE LAW. Apple's lawyers f*cked up and didn't realize that they weren't assigned rights to the iPad trademark in China. This is not about the Chinese enforcing their rights (whatever that means). It's about a Chinese court enforcing simple trademark law in China. Just so happens that this case involves a well-known American company, but frankly this ordeal is all Apple's own fault and not a political matter. Now the ultimate resolution may be a political matter, but that remains to be seen.
Yes, it is. It's a Chinese company that supposedly owns these rights and is seeking billions of dollars in damages. Suddenly China's authorities are active in clamping down on infringement and making scary noises.
As soon as it's a foreign company (oh, I don't know, Microsoft - suing for millions of pirate copies of Windows, for instance), the Chinese state quickly becomes silent.
Yes, Apple probably should have acquired those trademark rights (if they're even valid - the mark would potentially be liable for challenge by Apple since it itself is most strongly associated with iDevices). However, the enforcement procedures going on are totally hypocritical.
China is not a modern country like you seem to think it is. It's a lawless world in the spirit of Putin's Russia.
China and his funny way of dealing with copyright.
Some examples:
http://gemssty.com/2006/10/29/top-10-copycat-cars/
http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/12/19/bmw-loses-court-battle-to-chinese-x5-clone
Some examples:
http://gemssty.com/2006/10/29/top-10-copycat-cars/
http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/12/19/bmw-loses-court-battle-to-chinese-x5-clone
Readers in this forum are hopeless biased. Depite all the claims about chinese copycats and disrespect of IP, this time you absolutelly have no ground to blaim Chinese government for the actions against Apple.
Apple's legal team's failure to do proper due diligence is the only reason for what happed to China. Ask any lawyer with simplest experience in dealing with IP rights, they would know it is simply necessary to find out who actually owns the IP before closing a deal.
Should this happen in any US state, or Europe, I believe Apple would face way more harsh sanctions.
Fact is Proview was once world's top-ranking display suppliers before it went bankrupt and they come up with "ipad" trademark back in 2000 and succefully registered it same year and had actively used the tradmark in its products. Proview is without a doubt the legitimate owner of ipad trademark in China and now that it is bankrupt, Proview's creditors/recevier has every reason to bring a legal war against Apple to protect its legitimate interest.
What the Chinese court and authorities doing is totally legitimate and appropriate.
Bad move. Some people react very badly to threats. What about telling Foxconn privately "If we have to pay for this trademark suit, then we'll have to re-negotiate our contracts with you to save money. On the other hand, if we don't have to pay for these trademarks, we would be only too happy with any unexpected expenses that you have".
Wrong. First of all, Proview is a TAIWANESE company that just happens to own a Chinese subsidiary. Anyone who has lived in the Greater China region understands the distinction. I have read of nothing that suggests favoritism on the part of the Chinese courts. If anything, one would think that the courts would show more favoritism towards Apple given Apple's contributions to the Chinese economy. Again, Apple just plain f*cked up on this one and they only have themselves to blame.
Second, for all of the off-the-cuff instances of Chinese courts not enforcing the IP rights of foreign companies, I could give you just as many examples to the contrary.
If China is "lawless" as you say, then perhaps lawless ain't so bad ... but your comment makes me wonder if you've ever spent any appreciable length of time in the country.
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Actually, BMW did take legal action in china, but lose as it was ruled that it looked nothing like the x5. Chinese courts never rule against its locals when a foreign entity is involved.
BMW being a simple case as anyone with a brain cell could see it was an identical copy!!
thelookingglass said:
Actually, BMW did take legal action in china, but lose as it was ruled that it looked nothing like the x5. Chinese courts never rule against its locals when a foreign entity is involved.
BMW being a simple case as anyone with a brain cell could see it was an identical copy!!
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You might be right, but you might be wrong as we don't have the deal in front of us that apple signed with its parent company. Maybe apple did aquire the rights. Maybe they didn't. We don't know.
You might be right, but you might be wrong as we don't have the deal in front of us that apple signed with its parent company. Maybe apple did aquire the rights. Maybe they didn't. We don't know.
Even if Apple said fine, we are not going to play this game and pulled all manufacturing out of China(never going to happen), Apple still needs China as a sales market.
I think Apple has a couple of options 1. Just cut a deal with these guys and make it go away or 2. Pay someone in the Chinese government to make them go away.
I think Apple has a couple of options 1. Just cut a deal with these guys and make it go away or 2. Pay someone in the Chinese government to make them go away.
Chinese trade-mark is different - you are allowed *similar* products, but not exactly the same, and the first to registar gets the trademark. They don't give a **** about US trademark laws, but that's not their responsibility.
And as other posters have suggested, it's more like some officials trying to score a few free iPads than an all-out crackdown.
Apple has to pay up, or find a new name for iPads in China (maybe "apple pad", if that's free).
Had the government been indifferent and do nothing, or the court make a ruling in favor of Apple, you should add this to you fun listing showcasing disrespect of IP rights in China.
Fact is this time Chinese government is absolutely acting in line with legal norms and respecting IP.
Anyone with any basic sense of law would know it is Apple who f**cked up this whole thing and they are the only one to blaim. Proview Shenzhen and its creditors has evey reason to files claims against apple.
Proview is a HK listed public company with small shareholders possibly coming from the around the world (except China, cuz Chinese nations are barred from investing in HK stock markrt legally)
From legal perspective, Proview is as foregin as Apple and there is no incentive for the Chinese government to treat them differently. If you consider the larges sums of taxes paid by Apple and jobs created by Apple, Chinese government has no reason to treat a bankrupt company better than a major MNC and tax contributor.
I only said that is funny how chinese laws seem to work, I don't know if Apple is right or wrong in this thing.
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Lol agreed, too many people bashing without knowing the facts correctly
Lol agreed, too many people bashing without knowing the facts correctly
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If this Proview company is in anyway connected to the Chinese gov Apple are in trouble.
The Chinese PLA have their hands in all kind of business ventures { including counterfeiting } so it could also be one of theirs.
The Chinese PLA have their hands in all kind of business ventures { including counterfeiting } so it could also be one of theirs.