A bankrupt mainland China subsidiary of Taiwan-based Proview Technology is now demanding $2 billion from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) for the right to use the iPad name on mainland China. Apple licensed the name from Proview in 2009, but the Shenzen-based subsidiary claims an exclusive right to the name on the mainland.
The WSJ’s All Things Digital blog posted several documents that were filed in a recent court case decided in Apple’s favor. A court in China has reversed the decision. Apple returns to a provincial court next week to argue its case further.
Apple claims that it bought the rights to the iPad name on the mainland at the same time it bought rights in Taiwan and elsewhere. Proview (Shenzen) claims the rights did not belong to Proview (Taiwan) and could not have been legally transferred.