Chinese Court Orders Ban On Apple's iPad 190
zacharye writes "A lawyer representing Proview International on Monday announced that the Intermediate People's Court in Huizhou, a city in southern China, ruled that distributors should stop selling iPads in China. From the article: 'The ruling, which was also reported widely in China's state media, may not have a far-reaching effect. In its battle with Apple, Proview is utilizing lawsuits in several places and also requesting commercial authorities in 40 cities to block iPad sales. Apple Inc. said in a statement Monday that its case is still pending in mainland China. The company has appealed to Guangdong's High Court against an earlier ruling in Proview's favor.'"
Deja Vu (Score:5, Interesting)
"Proview International's shares have been suspended from trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since August 2010 and reports say it is deep in debt. It will be delisted in June if it cannot show it has sufficient assets, business operations and working capital."
SCO Mark 2?
Re:Good (Score:5, Interesting)
And the company that OWNS the trademark denies that the company that SOLD it had the right to do so.
And Apple presented solid evidence in Taiwan that the company that OWNS the trademark was fully aware, fully involved in the negotiations, and fully approved the transaction--that the claim that the company that sold the trademark had no right to do so is a flat-out lie, invented after they found out the trademark rights had been sold to Apple.
Re:Move? (Score:5, Interesting)
Doubtful. While I have not directly worked with manufacturing of goods from Apac countries, I have heard many stories from people that do.
China is an ideal place to manufacture goods for a number of reasons. The biggest I've seen are infrastructure and cost. On the infrastructure side, China invest a lot of money over the last 20 years to build a great transport system to move goods around the country. This makes it easier for small components suppliers to get their goods to manufacturers, which can then easily get their goods to major transport hubs to leave the country (be it a port or airport). The second major reason is cost. The Chinese government doesn't impose large fees when it comes to exporting goods from their country; combine this with cheap labor and its a great place to manufacture goods.
On the flip side there is India. This country has a horrible infrastructure. Just ask anyone what it is like getting around that country. Transport of goods from inland cities to a port or major airport is expensive and near impossible for larger items (like cars). On top of that, I believe India charges a large amount to export goods from their country. This is why India has become a hub for desk workers (phone centers, programmers, whatever) rather than a manufacturing country.
Re:Good (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not apprised of the situation at all except what I've read on this page, but the way I read that is that the company was fully aware of the sale, but didn't find out until later that the buyer was Apple, perhaps because they used a differently named subsidiary to make the purchase.
I would imagine such tactics are common for well known corporations and persons. After all, if Tim's Computers wants to buy your domain name (or trademark, or 500 widgets, etc.) you ask for $20. If Apple, Google, Microsoft, Foxconn, etc. want to buy your domain name, you'll be a lot more tempted to ask for $20,000 instead.
Re:Good (Score:4, Interesting)
Am I the only one who finds the existence of this lawsuit a bit hypocritical? China isn't exactly known for its strict policy towards intellectual property.
The real driver here seems to be mainland Chinese banks had loans to Proview, and Proview wanted to declare bankruptcy. If that is the end of it, Chinese banks (aka Chinese government) will lose money. If mainland Chinese courts are told to find for Proview and award billions of dollars, the loans are paid off or mitigated with Apple money.
Welcome to business in a country without rule of law.