Apple pays $60 mln for iPad trademark in China

Apple Inc. has agreed to pay 60 million U.S. dollars to Proview technology (Shenzhen) to settle the dispute over the iPad trademark, the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province announced Monday.

Apple has transferred the money to the account designated by the Guangdong higher court, and the Intermediate Court of Shenzhen on Monday notified the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to transfer iPad's trademark to Apple, the higher court said.

The court said the settlement agreement went into effect on June 25.

Proview Shenzhen, a Shenzhen-based maker of computer screens and LED lights, claimed it had the rights to use the iPad trademark commonly associated with Apple's popular tablet computer.

Proview says the Taipei subsidiary of its Hong Kong-based parent company, Proview International Holdings Limited, registered the iPad trademark in a number of countries and regions as early as 2000.

Though Apple bought the rights to use the iPad trademark from Proview Taipei in 2009, Proview says it reserves the right to use the trademark it registered on the Chinese mainland in 2001. The two sides have since been entangled in a drawn-out legal battle.

Guangdong's higher court heard the case in February as Apple and its proxy for the trademark purchase appealed a previous court ruling by Shenzhen intermediate court in favor of Proview.