Apple in Chinese dispute over iPad name

BEIJING, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- A Chinese court has ruled Apple failed to complete due diligence when buying the rights to the "iPad" name in 2006.

The "IPAD" name had been registered in 2000 by Proview Electronics, a small computer monitor manufacturer in Taiwan that had considered selling its own tablet computers, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Proview claimed to have the rights in eight regions, including China, South Korea and the European Union and agreed to sell them to Apple in 2006 for $55,000.

However, to comply with Chinese law, Proview in Taiwan had registered the rights with its arm on the mainland, Proview Shenzhen.

All trademarks in China have to be registered with a Chinese company and when Apple asked for the rights to be transferred, Proview demanded $10 million.

Apple sued but lost.

There had been negligence on both sides, experts said, since Proview in Taiwan should have realized that it didn't have the right to sell the name for mainland China use but Apple had shown no interest in mediation by suing.

"Apple was quite deceptive when it first approached Proview to buy the name," Xiao Caiyuan, the head of the firm representing Proview said. "They had lawyers in Europe, Hong Kong and Taiwan to look through the paperwork but they failed to spot that the trademark was registered elsewhere."