Apple offered Chinese company Proview 100 million yuan (US$16 million) to settle the two companies’ legal dispute over the rights to the “IPAD” trademark in China, according to the Bejing Times (translation via The Next Web). The claimed offer amount was rejected by Proview earlier this week.
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Struggling Proview, once a successful manufacturer of computer displays and electronic accessories, has fallen into significant debt and, it is perceived by most observers, is fighting Apple over the iPad trademark in order to receive enough money to pay off its creditors.
The Beijing Times reports that sources familiar with the negotiations claim that the Chinese firm needs at least 400 million yuan (US$63 million) to cover its liabilities and has thus supposedly countered Apple’s offer with that amount.
Proview’s counter offer of $63 million shows that the two companies may finally be close to reaching a settlement on the more than year-long dispute. Proview’s initial demand was over $2 billion but the company is under pressure from creditors to obtain cash quickly.
Apple is also anxious to resolve the dispute. The company’s latest iPad, although approved by the Chinese government for sale, has yet to launch in the country, with most analysts predicting that Apple does not want to risk a product launch until the trademark rights have been settled.
For now, the dispute remains confined to China, as a U.S. federal court dismissed Proview’s California lawsuit against Apple on Tuesday.