Grandall owed $2.4 million by defunct monitor manufacturer

Although Apple's legal battle for the iPad trademark in mainland China is over, the entire fight may not be complete. Bankrupt computer monitor manufacturer Proview has yet to pay the Grandall Law Firm that helped negotiate the $60 million settlement with Apple for the iPad name. As previously reported, Grandall is suing Proview and is also pushing to block the intellectual property transfer to Apple, attempting to force Proview (or potentially Apple) to pay its legal fees before the multitude of creditors demanding money from Proview are paid.

Proview founder Yang Rongshan characterized the lawsuit as "nonsense." He claimed that Proview should not be bound by its contract with Grandall, as the company is not currently under "normal operations."

Earlier this week, Grandall filed an asset protection application to the Shenzhen Yantian District People's Court asking to claim the iPad name before its transfer to Apple. Apple has already paid Proview directly, and sales of the current-generation iPad have already begun, so any gains by Grandall from Proview are unclear.

In November a Chinese court ruled in Proview's favor stating that Proview's Shenzen division was the actual owner of the trademark, but had not been represented in Apple's deal with Proview's Taiwanese division at the time. Proview also initiated a lawsuit in the US, arguing that, had the company known that Apple was behind the shell company IPADL that made the original deal, it would never have signed the rights over for the $55,000 price it agreed to.

Until the announcement that Apple had settled with Proview, both parties had been in mediation talks for several weeks with both trying to avoid a court ruling. The $60 million figure happens to be close the amount owed by Proview to its creditors as it seeks to stave off bankruptcy.

By Electronista Staff

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patents, industry, lawsuits, Apple, iPad, Proview