Apple earned a key victory earlier today in a Shanghai court, which denied a preliminary injunction request from Proview, the Chinese display maker that is suing the consumer electronics giant over the rights to the ‘iPad’ trademark. Apple will be able to continue to sell its slate in Shanghai without issues.
“[This court ruling] is a great help to Apple by giving it some breathing space,” said Ren Wenfeng, a lawyer at Guo Ce Law Office, which is not involved in the Proview-Apple dispute. “But it’s not clear whether Apple will eventually win the trademark infringement case in China, as the crucial thing will be the ruling by the Guangdong higher court.”
Further hearings have been put on hold as Apple awaits the results of a separate lawsuit taking place within a higher court in Shenzhen. Apple submitted an appeal after the Shenzhen court ruled in favor of Proview. The Cupertino based company maintains its belief that it has obtained the proper licensing agreements to use the ‘iPad’ name in China.
“We can’t make any comment on the court ruling,” explained Proview lawyer Ma Dongxiao. He did add that “this is not the final ruling”.