Apple Inc. agreed to pay Proview International Holdings Ltd. £35,000 ($55,494 at current exchange rates) for the iPad trademark, according to a cache of documents that includes emails and a contract detailing an agreement between the two companies.
The newly unearthed documents come as Apple has been battling Proview over whether it purchased rights to the iPad name from Proview in 2009—a key issue in a dispute between the companies.
Proview defended its claims to the trademark in China, and suggested on Friday that the company could be due as much as $2 billion from Apple.
A Hong Kong court sided with Apple last year, saying the agreement between Proview and an Apple subsidiary was valid. But a court in mainland China threw out Apple's case.
Proview, a computer display manufacturer that filed for bankruptcy, claims it has the exclusive rights to the iPad name in China and has sought injunctions against the import or export of Apple's tablet device. A ban on the iPad's export from China could have wide-ranging implications for Apple, which relies on manufacturers in the country to make many of the devices it sells around the globe.
Proview earlier this month attempted to bar the sale of iPads within China through a complaint filed with a Shanghai court, alleging that an earlier deal with Apple for the iPad trademark didn't include the China market.
At a press briefing in Beijing on Friday, Yang Rongshan, chairman of Shenzhen Proview, defended claims to the trademark in China and demanded compensation from Apple.
"If we are not compensated properly, then Apple doesn't use the iPad trademark in mainland China," said Mr. Yang, who is also the main shareholder of Proview, a Hong Kong-listed company that has been suspended from trading.
Mr. Yang also said that authorities in more than 30 Chinese cities have taken action in connection with the dispute with the computer display maker. "I think they are doing their job," he added.
Mr. Yang didn't give a figure for acceptable compensation, but Li Su, president of Hejun Vanguard Group, a consulting company that is representing Proview's creditors, said that U.S. lawyers for the company suggested asking for US$2 billion.
Apple's tablet remains widely available in China, both at the company's official stores and through other retail outlets. But while Proview's requests for bans on the iPad remain pending, Chinese government officials have removed the product from some retail stores there.
According to the documents, Proview said it would transfer the iPad trademark to Apple in several countries, including South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and China. An agreement dated Dec. 23, 2009, and signed by a Proview representative, said the company will transfer to Apple all rights, "powers and benefits belonging or accrued to the [iPad] trade marks, including the right to sue for past infringements and passing off."
Apple, which is based in Cupertino, Calif., said Proview has refused that agreement in China.
"We bought Proview's world-wide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago," an Apple spokeswoman said in a reiterated statement.
The documents were reported earlier by AllThingsD, a Web publication that is owned by News Corp., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
However, a court in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in December overruled Apple's claim that the iPad trademark in China should be transferred to Apple as part of the earlier agreement with Proview.
A summary of the decision published on the court's website said Apple's earlier agreement with the parent company covers only the iPad trademark in Taiwan, and that Proview's Shenzhen unit would still have to authorize a transfer of the China trademark. Apple's lawsuit was dismissed "due to the lack of facts and legal proof," it said.
Mr. Yang said Friday that Proview has turned out 10,000-20,000 products called the "iPAD" since 1998 but stopped production in 2009 due to the trademark dispute with Apple. Proview distributed images of the product, a compact desktop computer, to reporters at the event. In the Proview materials, "iPAD" stands for "Internet Personal Access Device."
Hejun's Mr. Li said that eight Chinese banks that had made loans to Proview opposed bankruptcy for the company, saying it wasn't necessary.
Proview attorney Ma Dongxiao also said that four Chinese courts had accepted its complaints against Apple for review.
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