Shanghai Court Denies Injunction Against iPad Sales in Proview Trademark Dispute

[Consultant]

Now to sue for the iMac rip-off.

Apple should have done that years ago.

 

[gnasher729]

It's much easier to buy a small court in China from what I have read?

You can try, but that would be criminal, and doing criminal things in China can have all kinds of nasty consequences, up to losing your head. Now the fact is that Proview might still have money to bribe some small court (whether courts in China can be bribed I don't know, but it is a matter of honesty, not of insufficient money), but any small court would know that Apple has the money to go to a bigger court, and allowing you to be bribed would seriously come back and bit you.

Apple should have done that years ago.

Did these iMac clones ever go into production? And if it was in China only in 2001, Apple might not even have noticed back then.

Clearly a corrupt Chinese government forcing Apple to pay HUGE fees over a ******** dispute.

Excuse me? Where has the Chinese government forced Apple to pay anything?

 

[djrod]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

It's much easier to buy a small court in China from what I have read?

You can try, but that would be criminal, and doing criminal things in China can have all kinds of nasty consequences, up to losing your head. Now the fact is that Proview might still have money to bribe some small court (whether courts in China can be bribed I don't know, but it is a matter of honesty, not of insufficient money), but any small court would know that Apple has the money to go to a bigger court, and allowing you to be bribed would seriously come back and bit you.

Apple should have done that years ago.

Did these iMac clones ever go into production? And if it was in China only in 2001, Apple might not even have noticed back then.

Clearly a corrupt Chinese government forcing Apple to pay HUGE fees over a ******** dispute.

Excuse me? Where has the Chinese government forced Apple to pay anything?

They are both from 1998

 

[iRobby]

According to the documents below Proview doesn't have a leg to stand on. And Apple has every right to fight for what is rightfully theirs.


Proview should get nothing and Apple should not settle.

If anything Apple should sue them for defamation and wipe them off the map.
I understand that they have some investment banks behind them, perhaps Apple can sue them too.

Just look at the evidence...

http://allthingsd.com/20120216/take-...-ipad-dispute/

Proview sold the name globally including China and got paid for it.
*

 

[Themaeds]

Boom.

Sweep these ridiculous small fry out of Apple's way already. People want iPads, tyvm. There was even an admission by the gov't or another body earlier that a sales ban on iPads would not play well with the public.

I am sure an oppresive govenment that does not allow people to practice religion, has murdered its own citizens, has carbon emissions that put the entire global climate at risk and has child labor sweatshops is not too concerned about public perception.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

I've been a member of Macrumors for seven years, and never have I seen so many legal headlines. If there's a landmark case, cover that, but seriously, can we cut down on the number of patent/trademark stories?

 

[cire]

I've been a member of Macrumors for seven years, and never have I seen so many legal headlines. If there's a landmark case, cover that, but seriously, can we cut down on the number of patent/trademark stories?

If you don't like legal headlines then just skip them. Nobody is forcing you to click on the story and read it. Just saying

 

[PracticalMac]

Beginning of the collapse for Proview case.

Everyone knows they are doing this as a fast money grab.
If they smart should just ask for a million to pay off its lawyers and get something, or they loose anything.

Chances are they will go down in huge fireball.

 

[tshort]

According to the documents below Proview doesn't have a leg to stand on. And Apple has every right to fight for what is rightfully theirs.


Proview should get nothing and Apple should not settle.

If anything Apple should sue them for defamation and wipe them off the map.
I understand that they have some investment banks behind them, perhaps Apple can sue them too.

Just look at the evidence...

http://allthingsd.com/20120216/take-...-ipad-dispute/

Proview sold the name globally including China and got paid for it.
*

Corrected URL:
http://allthingsd.com/20120216/take-a-look-at-some-of-apples-evidence-in-proview-ipad-dispute/

 

[shaunp]

If you don't like legal headlines then just skip them. Nobody is forcing you to click on the story and read it. Just saying

Isn't this supposed to be 'MacRumors', not 'Patent Rumors'?

 

[mccldwll]

Just to be clear; here is a quick summary of what transpired.

1. Dec 2009 : B&M (Apple's Shell) buys iPad trademark from Proview.Taiwan from Chairman Mr. Yang (who is also Chairman of Proview.China, and YOKE). The trademark is for Taiwan, HongKong and China. (VERY clearly defined).

2. Jan 2010 : Apple announces iPad

3. Feb 2010 : Proview.China claims they never sold the Trademark (Proview.Taiwan had no rights to sell it -- Although Mr. Yang their Chairman signed off the papers). Now demand $10,000,000 from Apple.

4. March 2010 : Apples says, no, we purchased it clearly.

5. April 2010 : Proview.China files bankruptcy.

6. Apple has been fighting since then to get the trademark they paid for.

Something missing from that timeline:
There's a claim that the failing Proview was put under the control of its major creditors, by a court, in early 2009 and that creditor committee approval would have been required for the transfer. I've seen no documents to verify, and not sure how much it will impact outcome even if true.

 

[wackymacky]

There's nothing wrong with a trademark lawsuit when they're legit. And Apple has seemed a bit arrogant in this space. Just because Apple is large and everyone wants an iPad doesn't necessarily make them right.

But this one doesn't appear to be legit. Proview appears to have seller's remorse on the original deal when they sold the trademark and having severe financial problems, simply sees a big payday. Personally, I'd bet that if Apple offered them $1 million to settle, they'd take it...maybe even less, but that would set a bad precedent for Apple and make them a target for other lawsuits.

You do know that proview were aiming to get between 1.5 and 2 billion dollars compensation?

If it was just a million dollars apple would have settled it long ago behind closed doors.

 

[akugyaku]

Like we knew that they would...

 

[HiRez]

Something is telling me that the world of hurt is just starting for Proview.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. One thing that came out recently is the Bank of China is one of Proview's creditors (i.e. they owe money to the bank). Bank of China is state-owned, therefore it wouldn't be surprising if there is pressure from the Chinese government to rule against Apple in this case, as an Apple loss would financially benefit China itself. Now you can argue that it could be harmful in the long term if Apple moves manufacturing out of the country because of the decision but that's not very likely. I just don't trust these Chinese courts at all.

 

[Glideslope]

Something is telling me that the world of hurt is just starting for Proview.

Oh, in the worst way possible. If they bring shame, or embarrassment to China
it will be the Northern Province's Camp Grounds for the Exec Team. The real action is behind closed doors.

----------

I wouldn't be so sure about that. One thing that came out recently is the Bank of China is one of Proview's creditors (i.e. they owe money to the bank). Bank of China is state-owned, therefore it wouldn't be surprising if there is pressure from the Chinese government to rule against Apple in this case, as an Apple loss would financially benefit China itself. Now you can argue that it could be harmful in the long term if Apple moves manufacturing out of the country because of the decision but that's not very likely. I just don't trust these Chinese courts at all.

Apple towers over Proview in the eyes of the Politburo. Proview is an irritation to the Bank of China. Extortion was attempted, most likely with Govt. knowledge. It has failed. Apple forgives Chen Deming with a warning.

 

[Konrad9]

I wanted this to hurt Apple because of how much of a patent troll they are being (it's really kind of childish), but Proview never had a chance in hell of getting anywhere, and they really didn't have a case.

 

[Mac Kiwi]

I wouldn't be so sure about that. One thing that came out recently is the Bank of China is one of Proview's creditors (i.e. they owe money to the bank). Bank of China is state-owned, therefore it wouldn't be surprising if there is pressure from the Chinese government to rule against Apple in this case, as an Apple loss would financially benefit China itself. Now you can argue that it could be harmful in the long term if Apple moves manufacturing out of the country because of the decision but that's not very likely. I just don't trust these Chinese courts at all.

Ya. Apple should just pay { if it is not large } Proviews loan back to the bank of China. Then we could watch proceedings from their lawyers begin as to how they will pay them.....unless the gov have decided they want the full amount. If thats the case then Apple have large issues coming.

 

[Negritude]

We all know why Apple is not going to lose this case: Brazil.

Apple is already making plans to ramp up their manufacturing capacity in other parts of the world, and if they end up getting stung by what they perceive is an unfair decision, that switch may happen even faster.

Just as fast as China has become a center for tech manufacturing, if companies don't feel fairly treated by the Chinese legal system, they will go elsewhere just as quickly.

 

[zoetmb]

You do know that proview were aiming to get between 1.5 and 2 billion dollars compensation?

If it was just a million dollars apple would have settled it long ago behind closed doors.

Yes, I know that's what they're aiming for, but I still think if they were offered $1 million, they'd take it, although Apple will never settle because of the precedent it would set.