Apple Pays Up $60 Million In iPad Branding Dispute

On Monday Apple had to pay a whopping $60 million to Shenzhen Proview Technology in order to finally settle a dispute that has been brewing between the two technology companies over ownership of the iPad name in China which almost everyone on the face of the planet has come to know of. This has in effect cleared Apple’s way of any potential obstacles that could have otherwise posed any harm to the sales of iPad’s in the Chinese market.

The branding dispute had brought a chill to the communist government which has been trying to get technology investors to pump some of their money and expertise into the country growing market and although Apple said it had already bought the rights to the name iPad from Shenzhen Proview Technology way back in 2009, the Chinese side said that the rights were never transferred and this forced the Chinese court to rule in December that Proview still owned the name iPad in China.

Debates are still ongoing as to whether this was a planned move by Proview which had registered the name iPad in China in 2001 to seek for more money from Apple since they asked the Chinese authorities to confiscate Apple’s iPads which was seen as a move by many to try and force Apple to cough out a settlement amount which in the long run they did. “The iPad dispute resolution has ended,” the Guangdong High People’s Court said in a statement. “Apple Inc. has transferred $60 million to the account of the Guangdong High Court as requested in the mediation letter.”

Though Proview had hoped for a greater compensation ($400 million), they had to take the deal offered by Apple because of its high debt ratio which may still see the company being declared bankrupt in a few months’ time. The good news however is that Apple now has the green light to go ahead and start selling its new iPad 3 in China which will see it recuperating the $60 million several folds over though it’s yet to officially make public the release date.

All of Apple’s iPads are made in China by Foxconn Technologies Group that employs more than 1 million workers in its top of the art factories.

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