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AFP reports that Proview Technology has expressed a willingness to work toward a settlement with Apple in the "iPad" trademark dispute in China, even as the company continues to press forward with current lawsuits and plans for new ones seeking as much as $2 billion in damages.
"We are now preparing for negotiations," Proview's lawyer, Xie Xianghui, told AFP. "The court cases will continue until we reach an agreement."
He declined to give further details, but he added Apple had told Proview it had "peaceful intentions".
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Analysts expect the companies will reach an out-of-court settlement.
Apple has been ramping up its efforts in the dispute, just yesterday sending a warning letter to Proview outlining numerous false public statements made by the company and threatening to sue Proview for defamation. Apple had previously won a court case in Hong Kong in which a judge ruled that several Proview subsidiaries had colluded in order to breach an agreement to transfer the trademark rights to Apple and then attempt to extort million (and now billions) of dollars from Apple.
Top Rated Comments
jW
APPLE: "No you won't."
PROVIEW: "Oh. Okay, in that case can you give us some money?"
Those talking about good faith here apparently have little understanding about business.
Apple did nothing in bad faith. The only bad faith here is Proviews' failure to transfer the trademark according to the agreement with Proview's parent company.
It is common practice to have a proxy acquire property for a company. It happens every day all over the world. To imply Apple was somehow dishonest or did something in bad faith is just plain stupid.
And to have a Chinese company want to enforce a trademark or copyright, that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard. Chinese factories are responsible for about ninety percent of all counterfeit products in the world. They have copied designs from virtually every industry. Infringing of intellectual property is a way of life in China.
Apple should sue Proview for breach of contract and defamation of charater.
Apple did not go into the purchase of the iPad name with clean hands. They made the purchase through a bogus company.
So you are saying that Apple should have paid more for the iPad name? Had they not come up with the shell IPADL and used that to buy the iPad name, Proview would have asked for a ton more cash. Shareholders will tell you Apple did the right thing because they saved money doing it this way, maximizing profits of the iPad device.Apple did not negotiate in good faith in the first place.
Ultimately, it wouldn't be fair for Proview to charge different amounts to different customers. It shouldn't matter who is buying the product. The issue at hand is fraud on the part of Proview, not Apple using a shell to buy iPad.