Josh Ong
Proview Technology (Shenzhen) chairman Yang Long-san told Reuters on Wednesday that Chinese consumers' love of Apple products and the size of the market would make such a ban unwieldy. Lawyers for the company said on Tuesday that they had filed requests to block imports and exports of the iPad, a move that could grind worldwide sales of the device to a halt.
"The customs have told us that it will be difficult to implement a ban because many Chinese consumers love Apple products. The sheer size of the market is very big," Yang said.
He added that the company has applied to "some local customs" for the ban, but the local departments will need to report to their headquarters in Beijing.
Proview sued Apple over the iPad trademark in China last year, and Apple has had little success in fighting back. The iPad maker believes that it purchased the rights to the trademark in China years ago through a deal with Proview's Taiwanese division.
“We bought Proview’s world-wide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago,†Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu said this week. “Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China.â€
Proview has responded with a complicated argument asserting that a subsidiary in Shenzhen owned the China rights and was not present at the negotiations.
Yang went on to hint that an out-of-court settlement would be the best way to resolve the disagreement. However, Xie Xianghui, a lawyer for Proview, indicated earlier this week that the company had yet to make any proposals to Apple.
"We are now focusing our work on upholding rights and haven't made negotiation proposals to Apple yet. As for the reasons, you should ask Apple," said Xie.
The New York Times suggested on Tuesday that the threat of an import/export ban and recent seizures of iPad units in smaller Chinese cities can be taken as warnings from Proview of the "havoc it could wreak" should Apple continue to fight this legal battle. If that is indeed the case, then Yang's mention of an out-of-court settlement may be a public attempt by the company to bring Apple to the negotiating table.
Officials from China's Administration of Industry and Commerce seized 45 iPad units last week in Shijiazhuang, Hebei. Authorities in Xuzhou, a small city in Jiangsu Province, confiscated devices earlier this week, according to another Proview lawyer. Several Chinese retailers, including Amazon China, also appear to have halted sales of the iPad online, according to local magazine The Beijinger.
A settlement from Apple could help Proview International Holdings, the parent company of Proview Technology (Shenzhen), reverse its current fate. The company is in danger of being de-listed from the Hong Kong stock exchange and has run into financial trouble in recent years.
-m.jpg)
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Thomas Sibilly
Marko Zivkovic
Andrew O'Hara
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
63 Comments
This rumor, if true, gives me a feeling that Proview's case is going to get flushed down the toilet.
Popcorn in hand watching the events unfold!
Apple should just send them a bill for 45 units. ...They may even qualify for a bulk discount.
Just change the name. Not that big of deal.
Notice the reasoning here. "We probably won't do it because it would be 'too difficult.'" Not "We won't do it because it complete bull@#$%."
Proview claims they hold the trademark to the iPad name in China ... great. Apple owns the trademark everywhere else, so there's nothing illegal about producing iPads in China and exporting them to countries where Apple does own the trademark (this is sidestepping the issue of whether or not Proview actually has a legitimate claim to the China trademark of the term "iPad").
If China were to ban the exportation of all iPads from the country over a domestic trademark dispute the backlash would be devastating. EVERY foreign company that has production in China would immediately start looking for alternate production facilities in friendly countries - which is a MAJOR source of China's economy and growth.
China is ballsy when it come to stealing intellectual property and technology, but they're not suicidal - banning the exportation of the iPad would bring the world down on China, and China doesn't like being in the unfavorable spotlight.
It very much looks like one subsidiary of Proview sold the rights to Apple, when the rights were owned by another subsidiary of Proview.
In such a scenario, it seems logical that the 2 subsidiaries of Proview should slug it out in court - and maybe one of the subsidiaries owes a lot of money to the other. But that would really be left hand paying right hand - at a time when both hands are poor!
Why deal with logic, when there is the rich hand of Apple, you have a very cooperative legal system! I have read that the Chinese legal system is impossible to navigate - but I guess that only applies to outsiders.
I cannot even imagine that the Chinese legal system actually entertains such a lawsuit - let alone allowing units to be seized and considering an import/export ban on the iPad! Quite obviously, everyone has a stake in Proview's extortion game.
This should a major lesson to all companies that insist on manufacturing in China. It makes tremendous sense to have some diversity - even if it comes at a much higher cost. For a company like Apple, this is a no brainer. Especially if it means they have enhanced production at a time when production is their number one constraint.
Brazil is a good first step, but Apple should also look at other markets like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, etc. And more importantly, Apple should look to diversify outside of Foxconn - what Proview did today, Foxconn could attempt tomorrow - and Foxconn is infinitely more connected in the establishment than Proview ever was.