苹果商标争端二审在中国开庭

A Chinese court Wednesday heard arguments in Apple's appeal in the high profile “iPad” trademark lawsuit over its blockbuster tablet computer. Judges with the Guangdong high court are expected to announce the date for their decision whether Apple or the Taiwan-based IT company Proview has the rights to use the iPad name on devices sold in China. The case has high stakes for both Apple -- one of the world’s most profitable companies -- and Proview Electronics, a once-strong computer display manufacturer that now is on the verge of bankruptcy.
  
Stan Abrams, a Beijing based lawyer and professor of foreign investment and intellectual property law at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said that while Apple could have avoided the suit by being more careful, Proview has also made mistakes. Between 2001 and 2004 Proview registered an iPad trademark in Europe and six other markets through its flagship company, Proview Taiwan. The group's largest operation, Proview Shenzhen, registered the trademark for the name within China. In preparing for the launch of the iPad, Apple bought the “global” iPad trademark from Proview, a portfolio that the U.S. company believed included the Chinese trademarks. Proview has since claimed to the contrary, and a Shenzhen court recently agreed that Apple does not own the rights to the name within China. Apple is now appealing that decision.