iPad dispute lawyer denies compensation reports

A lawyer for technology firm Proview Shenzhen denied Friday media reports that Proview is seeking a huge amount of compensation from Apple Inc. following a legal battle over the use of the trademark "iPad." Apple was plunged into a legal dilemma after losing a December 2011 court case to Proview Shenzhen, which claimed the rights to use the name "iPad" on the Chinese mainland. All the complaints and lawsuits filed by Proview Shenzhen after the December 2011 court case are against Apple's franchisers on the Chinese mainland, said Ma Dongxiao, the lawyer representing Proview Shenzhen, at a briefing held in Beijing. "In all the lawsuits, Proview Shenzhen did not ask for a single cent in compensation from Apple over the trademark dispute," Ma said. "The only compensation claim is 100,000 yuan (15,880 U.S. dollars), which is for payment of lawyers and related travel expenses, not for the use of the trademark by Apple," said Ma. Ma made the remarks after reports of an enormous compensation claim, which led to suspicion that Proview aims to take advantage of the lawsuit to save the company from bankruptcy. The Guangzhou Daily reported on Tuesday that Proview Shenzhen, which operates with a debt of about 1.15 billion yuan, had demanded 10 billion yuan in compensation. "I was hurt by what happened. Apple's iPads are popular, but Proview does not give it the right to sell the products under a trademark that it has no right to," Proview's Taiwanese founder Yang Long-san said. "What Proview Shenzhen is doing is to safeguard our own rights and interests. All we want is nothing but fair treatment." Although Apple launched an appeal after losing a December 2011 court case to Proview Shenzhen and the final verdict has yet to be delivered, authorities in some Chinese cities have taken action to seize Apple iPad products after receiving complaints from Proview Shenzhen. In Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, stores have stopped selling iPads and torn down advertisements, fearing their presence may provoke penalties from local authorities. iPads were also removed from shelves in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, after a district administration raided an authorized Apple retailer and sealed the store's stock of 87 of the computer tablets. Proview Technology (Shenzhen) is a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-headquartered Proview International Holdings Limited, which also has a branch in Taipei. Proview Taipei registered the iPad trademark in a number of countries and regions as early as 2000, and Proview Shenzhen registered the trademark on the Chinese mainland in 2001. Apple bought the rights to use the trademark from Proview Taipei in February 2010 via IP Application Development Limited (IP), a company registered in Britain. However, Proview Shenzhen claims it still reserves the right to use the trademark on the Chinese mainland. The two sides have been tangled in a legal dispute ever since.