A Chinese court has said that the US based company Apple has agreed to pay $60 million to the Chinese firm Proview to settle a trademark dispute related to the name iPad. Proview had claimed that it owned the rights of the iPad name in the Chinese market after it registered in the year 2000.
But Apple said that it acquired the world wide rights for the name in the year 2009. A court in Guangdong asked the two companies to reach to an agreement. The Guangdong High People’s Court in a statement said, “The iPad dispute resolution is ended”.
The statement added, “Apple Inc. has transferred $60 million to the account of the Guangdong High Court as requested in the mediation letter.” The global rights of the iPad have been bought from Proview’s Taiwanese affiliate for $55,000.
On the other hand the Chinese firm argued that its affiliate did not allow to sell the rights for China, which is one of the fastest growing markets for Apple products. Moreover, the dispute between the two companies had resulted in pulling off the iPads from the shelves of some parts of China. Proview said that even though the amount was less than what was expected it has agreed with the decision.
