According to reports, a struggling Taiwanese company has threatened to take legal action against electronics giant Apple over the rights to the name ‘iPad’.
Proview International, a Taiwan-based company specialising in making computer screens, has claimed that it owns the rights to the name iPad in China, after registering the trademark back in 2001.
The company reportedly used its subsidiary, Proview Taipei, to register the rights to the name iPad in Europe, whilst another subsidiary, Proview Technology, applied to trademark the name in China. Although Apple has since bought the European rights from Proview Taipei – at the time when the company’s own iPad product floundered – reports suggest that they didn’t acquire the Chinese rights.
Proview International is currently threatening to sue Apple in a trademark infringement lawsuit over the issue, unless negotiations can take place.
Speaking on behalf of the company, Mr Yang from Proview Electronics in Taiwan said:
“It is arrogant of Apple to just ignore our rights and go ahead selling the iPad in this market, and we will oppose that,”
“Besides that, we are in big financial trouble and the trademarks are a valuable asset that could help us sort out part of that trouble.”
The firm is reportedly asking for a compensation payout of 10 billion yuan (£950 million) from Apple, who are likely to fall back on their professional indemnity insurance should they lose the case.