Proview Refuses to Pay Legal Team that Got $60 Million from Apple

The lawyers in China representing Proview in its battle with Apple over the iPad trademark haven’t been paid yet. Proview claims it isn’t obligated to pay immediately since it isn’t operating under normal conditions. So like good lawyers, the company’s former legal representatives filed a lawsuit against Proview for what they are owed.

Apple & Proview

The Grandall Legal Group had a contract to receive 4% of the settlement if they prevailed against Apple, according to Sina Tech. As the agreed upon settlement was around US$60 million, Grandall is due roughly $2.4 million.

Grandall lawyer Xie Xianghui said that Proview had signed a risk proxy, a popular arrangement that has the legal fees coming from any settlement or award. In the course of pursuing the case for Proview, Grandall said that it incurred expenses including advance wages, legal fees, customs registrations, and other costs as the case developed. 

Proview founder Yang Rongshan, however, called the Grandall claims “nonsense.” While he did admit to signing the agreement, he claimed that Proview is not operating under normal conditions and therefore does not have to put a priority on paying the lawyers as required by the contract. Mr. Yang also said that Proview will not be “passing the buck,” even though his company is currently doing just that.

The court has accepted the case and there will no doubt be more legal fees incurred to collect the legal fees.