The outcome of the iPad trademark infringement case:
Apple and Shenzhen Proview reached a settlement on the iPad trademark dispute, with Apple paying Shenzhen Proview $60 million for the right to use the iPad trademark in mainland China.
Proview's Apple iPad dispute:
In 2000, the Proview Group registered the iPad trademark in Europe and the rest of the world. The following year, Proview's mainland subsidiary Shenzhen Proview registered the iPad China trademark.
In December 2009, Apple paid 35,000 pounds sterling to buy the iPad global trademark rights from Proview's Taiwan subsidiary, Proview International, through its UK subsidiary, IP Application.
In January 2010, Apple officially launched the iPad, and in February, Apple asked the China Trademark Office to revoke trademark No. 1090557 on the grounds that Proview Shenzhen had stopped using the iPad trademark for three consecutive years.
In April 2010, Apple filed a lawsuit against Shenzhen Proview in the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, arguing that it held ownership of the iPad trademark in mainland China based on a previous transfer agreement. But the Shenzhen court rejected the claim, finding that Apple had reached an agreement with Proview International and had not signed a contract with Shenzhen Proview, and that there was no evidence that Shenzhen Proview had ratified the agreement.
In 2011, Proview sued Apple distributors in Shenzhen and Huizhou, demanding a ban on the sale of iPads.
In February, Apple filed a lawsuit against Proview in a Shenzhen court, demanding that Proview pay damages and confirming that Apple owns the iPad trademark on the mainland, the first time the two sides had ever gone head-to-head.
March, Proview filed a complaint with Beijing's Industrial and Commercial Bureau, demanding that Apple be fined for trademark infringement. In December, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court ruled against Apple, rejecting both its compensation and trademark claims.
On February 22, 2012, Shenzhen Proview sued Apple's main distributor for trademark infringement in Shanghai Pudong New District Court, but the court did not pronounce a verdict.
On February 29, Apple sued Shenzhen Proview in Shenzhen for the second trial of the iPad trademark in mainland China, which was held in Guangdong Higher People's Court.
On April 1, 2012, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court ruled that Fubon (one of the Proview's creditors) had been denied its request to apply for Proview's bankruptcy and liquidation.
On May 9, 2012, California Superior Court Judge Mark Pierce dismissed Proview's lawsuit against Apple for iPad trademark infringement on May 4 at Apple's request.
On July 2, 2012, the Guangdong Higher People's Court announced that Apple and Shenzhen Proview had reached a settlement over iPad trademark rights, with Apple paying $60 million in settlement costs.
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