After weathering a legal challenge in China from Apple Inc. over the iPad name, a Chinese affiliate of a Hong Kong company says it is mounting its own court action.
Proview Technology (Shenzhen) said this week that it filed for a temporary restraining order in a Shanghai court to stop the Cupertino, Calif., maker of hot-selling electronics from using the iPad name in mainland China. "We have to admit that Apple's iPad is a great product, and Apple creates great value out of that," said Yang Rongshan, chairman of the Proview arm in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, in an interview. "But this is not the reason to support their irregular practice here."
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
The challenge follows one by Apple against Proview, which claims it owns the iPad name in mainland China. In December, a Shenzhen court rejected Apple's challenge. Apple has appealed to a higher court, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Proview Technology (Shenzhen) is part of Proview International Holdings Ltd., a contract manufacturer of liquid-crystal displays and other products that is traded in Hong Kong. It registered the iPad name in 2001 and has said it uses the name on some products.
"We've been negotiating with Apple," Mr. Yang said. "I can't tell you what the status is right now since this is a commercial secret, but so far their attitude is still quite ambiguous."
Xinhua said this week that the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce is also exploring a complaint from Proview.
It is unclear how the matter will unfold, though the situation isn't new to Apple, which has been both challenger and challenged in a broad number of markets over the years.
Ma Dongxiao, an attorney who represents Proview, said the company applied on Monday for a temporary restraining order in Shanghai's Pudong People's Court. A decision is supposed to come within 48 hours, he said, "but in common practice it usually takes longer. So now I have no idea when we could hear from the court."
The legal action might be a rare example of a legal dispute in China in which a Chinese company doesn't get popular backing in its dispute with a Western rival. China has taken to Apple's products strongly over the past two years, to the point of scuffles in front of Apple stores. Apple's late co-founder, Steve Jobs, is lauded as an innovator and an example to young entrepreneurs in a country known more for copying than for new ideas.
"I understand even lots of Chinese people think our company is playing dirty here or trying to blackmail Apple," Mr. Yang said. "But we are doing everything completely under the laws and rules, if people understand the whole process of this matter. There has been so much misunderstanding about us, but we would continue to sue until we win what we deserve."
