Edible Apple

The drama in China over Apple’s iPad trademark rages on as a lower Chinese Court ruled recently that local iPad distributors should stop selling Apple’s tablet.

Xie Xianghui, a lawyer for Shenzhen Proview Technology, said the Intermediate People’s Court in Huizhou, a city in southern China’s Guangdong province, had ruled on Friday that distributors should stop selling iPads in China.

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.

Apple insists it holds the trademark rights to the iPad in China.

“We bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago. Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China and a Hong Kong court has sided with Apple in this matter,” said Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.

Not surprisingly, Proview is reportedly deep in debt, with shares of the company having been delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since the Summer of 2010. If it can’t show that it has “sufficient assets, business operations and working capital” by June, it will be permanently delisted.

Desperate times call for desperate measures apparently, even if it includes initiating a fraudulent legal action against Apple.

via Yahoo