Proview was once a significant company with 18,000 employees, now it’s a nearly dead operation where officials are pinning their hopes for a comeback on a trademark dispute with Apple over the “iPad” name.
AppleInsider’s Sam Oliver:
The trademark dispute between Apple and Proview was highlighted Tuesday in a feature published by Reuters. At the center of Proview is company owner Yang Long-san, who still dreams of a comeback with his floundering company, but those hopes are pinned largely on his company’s dispute with Apple over the use of the “iPad” name.
The story reveals that Proview employed 18,000 people and had offices around the world at one point, but now it employs only a few hundred. None of its previous operations continue, as the primary focus at Proview now is the trademark case against Apple.
Proview is the owner of the rights to the “IPAD” name in multiple territories. Some of those trademarks were sold in 2009 to a company secretly founded by Apple named “IP Application Development Limited Ltd”. Proview is accusing Apple of fraud and unfair competition, because the company did not reveal it was behind IP Application Limited, or “IPAD”, when it paid Proview $55,000 for rights to the name.
Proview is currently seeking up to $1.6 billion in compensation from Apple for the use of the iPad name. It has also sought to ban sales of the iPad in China, as well as attempting to bar the exportation of the device from China. Such a move would bring world sales of the iPad to a halt.
Proview has also brought legal action against Apple on it’s own home turf. The company filed a lawsuit against Apple in California earlier this month, accusing the iPad device maker of fraud and unfair competition.
During its heyday, Proview was the maker of a PC called the Internet Personal Access Device, or “iPAD”. The company also built monitors before being pushed into bankruptcy during the global financial crisis.
“I hope we can return to our glory days,” Yang said. “I’m sure our shareholders are hoping the same.”
Proview suffered a major setback last week, when a Shanghai court sided with Apple, and allowed them to continue sales in that city.
