Apple’s iPads were seized in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, following a dispute with a Chinese company which said it owns the Chinese rights for the name "iPad".
Proview Technology (Shenzhen) had asked commerce departments in various Chinese cities to seize Apple’s tablet PCs due to the dispute over the name, according to reports carried by the official People Daily and others.
A Chinese court rejected Apple’s complaint in December 2011 that Shenzhen Proview was violating its rights to the iPad name.
Though Proview Taipei transferred the trademarks to Apple for £35,000 as per a 2009 agreement, the court held that Proview China was not bound by it.
Proview Technology (Shenzhen) had registered the trademark name "iPad" in several countries including in 2000 itself, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily.
Proview lawyer Xie Xianghui said the company was now working on a request to China Customs to ban and seize all the import and export of the iPad products that have violated the trademark, according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Apple Spokeswoman in Beijing Carolyn Wu said Apple bought Proview’s worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 10 different countries several years ago.
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"Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China," added Wu.
