Apple pays out $60 million to use 'iPad' name in China

In order to settle a dispute with the Chinese firm Proview over the rights to the trade name "iPad," Apple has paid out $60 million to secure exclusive use of the name.

In the year 2000, the Chinese company Proview registered the name "iPad." Between 2006 and 2009, Apple attempted to secure global rights for the name “iPad”. The BBC notes Apple succeeded in every market except China. For the past three years, Apple and Proview have engaged in a bitter dispute over the right to use the term "iPad" in China. Recently, the Guangdong High People's Court in China requested the two companies reach an agreement. Proview initially asked for $1 billion but in the end settled on $60 million. Xie Xianghui, a lawyer for Proview, was quoted by PC Mag as acknowledging the end of the dispute, saying, “All parties involved have agreed on the settlement. Proview and Apple now no longer have a dispute over the iPad trademark.” The dispute led to some iPads being unavailable in parts of China. The situation arose because, as part of the 2009 rights acquisition by Apple, the U.S. company purchased the iPad name from a subsidiary of Proview based in Taiwan. However, Proview claimed this did not give Apple exclusive rights on the Chinese mainland. The Daily Telegraph reports Apple slipped up in the early 2000s and forgot to register the iPad name in China. Proview manufactures CRT and LCD monitors, LCD TVs, Plasma TVs and DVD players.