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After a number of online stores suspended sales of Apple's iPad, the U.S. tech giant has hit back. Apple is accusing Proview Technology of failing to honor its agreement to transfer the rights to use the iPad trademark in China.
Apple reportedly said in a statement that it had acquired the worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago from Proview. Apple says a Hong Kong court has sided with the U.S. company in this matter, but the case is still pending on the Chinese mainland.
| A man walks up a bridge in front of the derelict office of Proview Technology in China's
southern city of Shenzhen February 15, 2012. |
Proview Technology Shenzhen holds the trademark it registered in 2001 according to the official website of China’s trademark authority. It claims Apple made a deal to buy the iPad trademark from Proview Technology Taiwan, a company associated with but is still a separate entity from the Shenzhen company.
Many online stores in China, including Amazon China and Gome, have pulled sales of the iPad after the local administrations of industry and commerce seized shipments of the popular tablet computer in a second-tier city.
| An Apple employee arranges an iPad display desk at a dealership in Kunming, Yunnan
province February 15, 2012. |
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