Apple is defending the iPad name by claiming that the device became synonymous with both the company name and the tablets. “When consumers see a tablet with an iPad trademark, they know it comes from Apple, and not from another company.”
9to5Mac writer Christian Zibreg:
…Apple’s legal representatives who argued at the Guangdong Province Higher People’s Court hearing this morning that Apple made the iPad name famous in the first place:
Among consumers across the world, the iPad trademark is already uniquely connected with Apple. When consumers see a tablet with an iPad trademark, they know it comes from Apple, and not from another company.
There was no ruling handed down during the six-hour hearing, and court was adjourned without setting a new court date. If Apple loses its appeal, a request by Proview to put a sales ban on the iPad in 30 Chinese cities will go in effect. Apple would also risk lawsuits seeking damages.
Apple’s lawyers claim letting Proview use the iPad name would confuse customers and harm its interest. Apple believes that a sales ban would hurt China’s national interests, as the device is manufactured in Foxconn’s China plants, which employ up to a million workers who assemble Apple’s products.
Proview, who recently filed for bankruptcy and is strapped for cash, is looking for an out of court settlement. It is reportedly seeking $400 million in compensation from Apple, in order to use the iPad moniker in mainland China.
As of December 31, 2011, Apple had sold a total of 55.28 million iPads around the world. Apple is slated to announce the third-generation iPad on March 7th.
