As first noted by Jesus Tablet, the company that has been registering the iPad trademark internationally en masse has also applied for it in the U.S. We revealed earlier this month that a company called IP Application Development had begun applying for the iPad trademark in mid January.
The company has been loosely connected to an Apple shell corporation called Slate Computing through a similar iPad trademark application in Canada. The U.S. trademark application arrives in the backdrop of Apple interest in contesting Fujitsu's U.S. iPad trademark.
We believe it's likely that Apple is behind the IP Application Development company's actions, though no further evidence links the two companies. Apple is rumored to be introducing their tablet next week at a media event on January 27th.