Jeff Gamet Proview Technology, the China-based company that’s suing Apple over use of the iPad name, is ready to negotiate out of court to reach a settlement. Apple claims it purchased the rights to the iPad name in China from a Proview subsidiary, but the display maker says that’s not true.
“We are now preparing for negotiations,” Proview lawyer Xie Xianghui said, according to The Times of India. “The court cases will continue until we reach an agreement.”
Proview prepping for iPad trademark negotiations with Apple
Apple has argued that it legitimately purchased the Chinese rights to the iPad name, although local courts ruled in favor of Proview Technology. Apple has since appealed that ruling.
Proview is now potentially facing the wrath of Apple’s legal team thanks to its public comments about the situation. In a letter to Proview’s chairman, Apple claimed the company is misrepresenting facts in the case and that those actions are damaging Apple’s reputation.
Presumably, Proview Technology is hoping to reach an out of court settlement with Apple, which would give the financially-strapped company a much needed cash boost. Assuming Proview gets its way, it’ll get its hands on a US$2 billion check from Apple.
Considering Apple’s current stance, however, it may be harder than planned for Proview to get any cash out of the iPad maker.
Apple hasn’t commented on the negotiation plans.
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If Proview is saying that they are now ready to settle, that sounds to me like they’ve realized that there is a flaw in their side of the case that Apple can eventually exploit to win the whole game. That, or they realize that Apple’s legal team can afford to fight this out and keep appealing any ruling against them, for a lot longer than they can. Either way, there is no way that Proview will get $2B from Apple. I could see Apple paying maybe a couple hundred million, and even that seems like a liberal settlement, to me. Oh, hell… If Businessweek is to be believed (http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=334:HK), Proview International Holdings is only worth $155 million. Could Apple just buy Proview, take the patents, and then close the rest of it down?