China Court Encourages Apple, Proview to Settle Dispute
April 21 (Bloomberg) -- A Chinese court is mediating talks between Apple Inc. and Proview Technology (Shenzhen) Co. in a bid to get the companies to settle their dispute over the iPad trademark in the country.
"On the one hand, we are trying to process this case, and on the other, we are working on encouraging both sides to settle," Zhao Le, an official at the foreign affairs office of the Higher People's Court of Guangdong, said by telephone yesterday. Zhao said he had no further information on the effort.
On Feb. 29, the Guangdong court heard Apple's appeal against a lower court ruling last year that Proview owned the iPad trademark in China. Proview, a failed maker of computer displays, has filed separate complaints alleging that Apple's sale of iPad tablets in the country infringed intellectual- property laws.
"We started work, through the mediation of the court, on trying to get both sides to settle," Roger Xie, a lawyer for Proview, said by phone. Before issuing rulings, Chinese courts typically initiate proceedings for litigants to settle, he said.
Carolyn Wu, a spokeswoman at Apple in Beijing, didn't immediately return messages sent by mobile phone and e-mail seeking comment.
Apple has said it acquired the rights to the iPad trademark in China from Proview.
Proview Technology is a unit of Hong Kong-listed Proview International Holdings Ltd., whose shares have been suspended from trading since 2010.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net
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