BEIJING — Authorities have seized Apple iPads from retailers in a city in northern China due to a dispute with a domestic company that says it owns the iPad name, an official said Monday. The Chinese company said it is asking for similar action in more than 20 other cities.
The dispute threatens apples popular device in the worlds fastest growing market.
An Apple Inc. spokeswoman in Beijing, Carolyn Wu, declined to comment.
Cupertino, California-based Apple maintains five stores in mainland China — two in Beijing and three in Shanghai — as well as authorized resellers in other cities. Phone calls to the Beijing and Shanghai commercial locations, which enforce trademarks, were not answered.
At dispute is the name iPad which is owned by Shenzhen Proview it registered the iPad name in China in 2001. Apple bought rights to the name from a Taiwan affiliate, Proview Taipei, that registered it in various countries as early as 2000. The mainland company says it still owns the name in China.
A Chinese court rejected Apple’s complaint in December that Shenzhen Proview was violating its rights to the iPad name. The court ruled Proview is not bound by a 2009 agreement under which Proview Taipei transferred the trademarks to Apple for 35,000 pounds ($54,700).
Source: WashingtonPost