Apple

According to the Associated Press, Apple and Chinese company Proview Technology have reached a settlement deal that involves Apple coughing up $60 million for the rights to the “iPad” trademark in China.

For those of you who didn’t know, Proview began publicly objecting to Apple’s use of the term iPad in late 2010. The situation eventually escalated to see Proview demanding bans on iPad sales in the country and up to $2 billion in compensation at the time. Settlement talks initiated earlier this year pointed towards Apple offering $16 million to settle the case but Proview continued to fight for $400 million in compensation. The money would have been sufficient enough to save the company as it seeks to reorganize under bankruptcy which was probably one big reason why the company kept trying to fight for more.

The Cupertino California company continued to hold ground as well, arguing that it acquired the Chinese rights to the iPad name in late 2009 as part of a deal with Proview’s Taiwanese arm. The deal, brokered by Apple dummy corporation IP Application Development, reportedly saw the rights to the name transferred in a number of markets around the globe for just $55,000. Here, Proview later claimed that the Chinese rights to the trademark were owned by its Chinese subsidiary and that the Taiwanese arm consequently could not have sold them to Apple. Regardless of the argument, a settlement has been reached with the issue finally being resolved.

Source: Associated Press