Apple has agreed to pay $60m (£38m) to Chinese firm Proview to settle a dispute involving rights to the “iPad” name, a court in China has said. Proview had claimed that it owned the rights to the iPad name in the Chinese market after registering it in 2000. However, Apple had insisted that it had […]
Apple has agreed to pay $60m (£38m) to Chinese firm Proview to settle a dispute involving rights to the “iPad” name, a court in China has said. Proview had claimed that it owned the rights to the iPad name in the Chinese market after registering it in 2000. However, Apple had insisted that it had acquired the worldwide rights for the name in 2009.
A court in Guangdong had asked the two firms to try to reach a settlement.
“The iPad dispute resolution is ended,” the Guangdong High People’s Court said in a statement.
“Apple Inc. has transferred $60m to the account of the Guangdong High Court as requested in the mediation letter.”
Apple had bought the global rights to the “iPad” from Proview’s Taiwanese affiliate for $55,000 (£35,000).
However, the Chinese firm had argued that its affiliate did not have the rights to sell the iPad name rights for China, which is one of the fastest-growing markets for Apple’s products.
The dispute between the two firms resulted in Apple’s iPads being pulled off the shelves in some parts of China.
