Proview wants back global rights to iPad trademark, sues Apple

Taiwan-based electronics company Proview is seeking to take back the global rights to the iPad name by suing Apple for alleged fraud and unfair competition, just days after it was reportedly open to reach a settlement with Cupertino in their ongoing trademark dispute.

The Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday that Proview amended its U.S. lawsuit filed earlier this month in Santa Clara, California's Superior Court. In the original lawsuit, filed Feb. 17, Proview accused Apple of using another company as a front when it purchased the iPad trademark it held in China in December 2009, which made the contract invalid.

Proview maintains it owns the rights to the iPad trademark in mainland China.

Proview said it amended its lawsuit in the United States to provide details of Apple's "fraudulent actions". "Among the many allegations in the U.S complaint are fraud by intentional misrepresentation, fraud by concealment, fraudulent inducement, and unfair competition," the company said, according to the AP report.

According to AP, Ma Dongxiao, a lawyer representing Proview in China but not involved in the U.S. case, said the dispute in China centers only on ownership and infringement of the iPad trademark, not on the validity of the 2009 deal.

Although iPads have already been taken off retail shelves in some Chinese cities, a Shanghai court last week rejected Proview's demand for a sales injunction, the report said.

The newswire said it remains to be seen whether Proview's latest legal move is due to the expectation of a favorable ruling by the Guangdong High Court or the desire to push Apple for an out-of-court settlement--an option Proview's lawyers have said in earlier reports was possible.

Apple, however, has made no sign it is willing to settle, and claims that Proview failed to transfer ownership of the iPad trademark in mainland China as agreed in the 2009 deal, AP noted.