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| 1 |  Reuters - The Supreme Court said on Monday that it rejected an appeal by Tiffany & Co arguing that eBay Inc should be held liable for trademark infringement for selling counterfeit goods on its website. Yahoo! News: Internet News » | | 2 | LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Internet auction site eBay Inc is generally not liable for trademark infringements committed by users on its site, a European Court of Justice legal expert said on Thursday, ahead of a final court ruling.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 3 | LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Internet auction site eBay is generally not liable for trade mark infringements committed by users on its site, the European Court of Justice said in a non-binding opinion issued on Thursday.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 4 |  Reuters - Internet auction site eBay Inc is generally not liable for trademark infringements committed by users on its site, a European Court of Justice legal expert said on Thursday, ahead of a final court ruling. Yahoo! News: Internet News » | | 5 |  Reuters - Internet auction site eBay is generally not liable for trade mark infringements committed by users on its site, the European Court of Justice said in a non-binding opinion issued on Thursday. Yahoo! News: Internet News » | | 6 | About a week. That's how long it took for a lawsuit against Apple to emerge in the wake of its iCloud announcement at the Worldwide Developers Conference.
iCloud Communications, a Voice over Internet Protocol company, filed suit against Apple in the U.S. District Court of Arizona. The suit alleges that Apple is infringing on its trademark with the new iCloud service, along with unfair competition and injury to the VoIP company's business reputation.
In its suit, iCloud Communications is asking the court for a preliminary and permanent injunction against Apple, as well as undisclosed monetary damages and attorneys' fees. iCloud Communications claims Apple's iCloud has similarities with some of the services it provides.
Injured iCloud?
"The goods and services with which Apple intends to use the 'iCloud' mark are identical to or closely related to the goods and services that have been offered by iCloud Communications under the iCloud marks since its formation in 2005," the suit reads.
"However, due to the worldwide media coverage given to and generated by Apple's announcement of its 'iCloud' services and the ensuing saturation advertising campaign pursued by Apple, the media and the general public have quickly come to associate the mark 'iCloud' with Apple, rather than iCloud Communications."
Apple's iCloud is a set of free new cloud services that work with applications on the iPhone, iPod touch, and Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store content and push it to devices. The free iCloud services include the former MobileMe, App Store and iBookstore, iCloud Backup, iCloud Storage, Photo Stream, and iTunes.
Settling Like Cisco
Apple couldn't immediately be reached for comment, but Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, said there is an assumption that iCloud Communications will do what Cisco Systems did in its iPhone trademark suit against Apple in 2007: Work out a deal.
"Apple is crossing... newsfactor.com » | | 7 |  LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Internet auction marketplace eBay may be liable for trademark infringements committed by users on its site if it plays an active role in their use, Europe's highest court ruled on Tuesday.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 8 |  Reuters - Internet auction marketplace eBay may be liable for trademark infringements committed by users on its site if it plays an active role in their use, Europe's highest court ruled on Tuesday. Yahoo! News: Internet News » | | 9 | TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion, still smarting over having to change the name of its yet-to-come operating system, faces a similar trademark challenge to its popular instant-messaging service BlackBerry Messenger.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 10 | HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese tech firm that says it owns the iPad trademark, plans to seek a ban on exports of Apple Inc's computer tablets from China, a lawyer for the company said.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 11 | A Chinese company said Tuesday it will ask customs officials to ban imports and exports of Apple's iPads due to a dispute over ownership of the trademark.
All of Apple's iPads are manufactured in China, meaning global sales of the popular tablet computers might be affected if authorities agreed to enforce such a request by Shenzhen Proview Technology.
The dispute with Proview, which won a court ruling that it owns the iPad name in China, has resulted in authorities seizing iPads from retailers in one city. Proview said it has asked for enforcement in 30 other cities.
"We are 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," said Xie Xianghui, a Proview lawyer. He gave no indication when the request might be filed.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, defended its ownership of the iPad name.
"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," said an Apple Inc. spokeswoman in Beijing, Carolyn Wu.
Wu declined to comment on the possibility of Proview requesting a ban on iPad imports and exports.
China is Apple's fastest-growing market. Its iPads and iPhones are manufactured by a contractor, Taiwan-based Foxconn Technologies Group, at factories in southern China.
Shenzhen Proview Technology registered the iPad trademark in China in 2001. Apple bought rights to the name from a Taiwan company affiliated with Proview but the mainland company says it still owns the name in China. A Chinese court rejected Apple's claim to the name in China last year. Apple has appealed.
"Our case is still pending in mainland China," Wu said.
Chinese rules allow trademark owners to request seizure of goods that violate their rights, according to Stan Abrams, an American... newsfactor.com » | | 12 | Authorities have seized iPads from more Chinese retailers in an escalating trademark dispute between Apple Inc. and a struggling local company that could disrupt global sales of the popular tablet computer.
Shenzhen Proview Technology claims it owns the iPad name in China, and a court ruled in its favor last year. This week, the Chinese company said it will ask customs officials to stop imports and exports of iPads, which are made in China.
A Web site run by newspaper China Business News said Thursday iPads were seized in the central city of Zhengzhou and the eastern port of Qingdao. Seizures were reported earlier in Shijiazhuang and Xuzhou.
Proview said it has asked regulators in more than 40 cities to investigate possible trademark violations.
Chinese media say Proview is deeply in debt, and observers have suggested the company needs a large settlement to repay creditors.
"We've appealed to Apple through its agents to have a settlement, but so far we haven't received any response from them," said a Proview lawyer, Xie Xianghui. He declined to say how much Proview wants.
An employee of the press office of Zhengzhou's Administration of Industry and Commerce confirmed some iPads were seized there.
"One of our local offices seized iPads from a shop and sealed them off based on the Chinese Trademark Law, although we did not carry out a city-wide seizure," said the employee, who would give only his surname, Jiang.
A spokesman for Qingdao's Administration of Industry and Commerce said he knew of no order to seize iPads but said the agency was monitoring the legal process.
"We're investigating iPad sales in the city and will move quickly once there is a final legal judgment," said the spokesman, who would give only his surname, He.
A spokesman for Weihai's commerce agency said he knew of no citywide seizures but said local offices... newsfactor.com » | | 13 | Chinese officials face a choice in Apple's dispute with a local company over the iPad trademark -- side with a struggling entity that a court says owns the name or with a global brand that has created hundreds of thousands of jobs in China. Experts say that means Beijing's political priorities rather than the courts will settle the dispute if it escalates.
Shenzhen Proview Technology has asked regulators to seize iPads in China in a possible prelude to pressing Apple Inc. for a payout. There have been seizures in some cities but no sign of action by national-level authorities.
Proview has a strong case under Chinese trademark law, but that could quickly change if Beijing decides to intervene to avoid disrupting iPad sales or exports from factories in southern China where the popular tablet computers are made, legal experts say.
"If this becomes political -- and it's very easy to see this becoming political -- then I think Apple's chances look pretty good," said Stan Abrams, an American lawyer who teaches intellectual property law at Beijing's Central University of Finance and Economics.
The dispute centers on whether Apple acquired the iPad name in China when it bought rights in various countries from a Proview affiliate in Taiwan in 2009 for 35,000 British pounds ($55,000).
Apple insists it did. But Proview, which registered the iPad trademark in China in 2001, won a ruling from a mainland Chinese court in December that it was not bound by that sale. Apple appealed and a hearing is scheduled for Feb. 29.
"My gut reaction is that many of these activities really could be seen as pre-settlement brinksmanship," said David Wolf, a technology marketing consultant in Beijing. "Proview's motive is money, not to shut down Apple."
Shenzhen Proview Technology is a subsidiary of LCD screen maker Proview International Holdings Ltd., headquartered in... newsfactor.com » | | 14 | Apple Inc. is facing yet another challenge to its use of the iPad trademark in China -- this time in a court in California.
Proview Electronics Co., a unit of Proview International Holdings, which claims it owns the iPad name, filed a lawsuit against Apple's use of the trademark in mainland China at the Santa Clara Superior Court on Feb. 17, Proview spokeswoman Alice Wang said Friday.
An attempt by Proview to win an injunction to stop Apple from selling iPads in Shanghai was foiled this week when a court there rejected the case pending the resolution of a similar lawsuit in a higher court in China.
Apple had no immediate comment on the California lawsuit.
The companies are feuding over whether Proview sold the mainland Chinese rights to the iPad trademark to Apple in a 2009 deal.
Proview claims the sale of the iPad China trademark to a company representing Apple by its Taiwan affiliate in 2009 was invalid. Proview has not challenged the sale of other worldwide rights to the iPad trademark to Apple in the 35,000 British pound ($55,000) deal.
Apple contends that Proview included the mainland Chinese trademark in the sale and says it violated that contract by failing to transfer the trademark rights to Apple.
Proview's lawyers have indicated their company is open to settling its claim to the trademark. In the meantime, the two sides have engaged in legal skirmishes in Hong Kong and in southern China's Guangdong province, where Proview's main office is based.
There, lower courts have sided with Proview in two cases. The Guangdong High Court is due to hear Apple's appeal of the first decision on Feb. 29.
Proview International Holdings was once one of the world's leading makers of computer monitors, with sales in 50 countries and more than 7,000 employees in factories in Taiwan and China.
But the... newsfactor.com » | | 15 | iPotato, isock, icouch, istove, i-you-name-it. An Internet search for "i" words from A to Z will turn up just about any combination you might think up, from all over the world, only a handful of them related to Apple Inc.
Given its penchant for "iproducts," Apple's current troubles in China over the iPad trademark are not its first, and are unlikely to be its last. China's importance as a major consumer market is bringing fresh headaches for companies, and even celebrities, seeking to protect and claim brand names. That's apart from the usual problems with piracy and other infringements.
Financially troubled Proview Electronics Co., a computer monitor and LED light maker, says it registered the iPad trademark in China and elsewhere more than a decade ago and wants Apple to stop selling or making the popular tablet computers under that name. Apple says Proview sold it worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 2009, though in China the registration was never transferred.
The number and variety of such disputes is rising as Chinese companies seek to leverage trademarks to their advantage, either for the sake of acquiring attractive brand names or for financial gain, said You Yunting, a lawyer with the Debund Law Office in Shanghai, which specializes in trademarks and patents.
"This is an era of development and people are paying more attention to brand names now," said You. "China is not good at innovation. I'd say Proview would not be suing Apple if its financial situation was fine."
Apple and Proview are battling in Chinese and U.S. courts. Apple's right to make and market the iPad under that name in China may hinge on a pending ruling from the High Court in Guangdong, in southern China. Over the past month, the conflict has escalated with Proview challenging not only Apple's use of the... newsfactor.com » | | 16 | A Chinese court is mediating between Apple Inc. and the Chinese company challenging its right to use the iPad trademark, seeking to get the companies to settle an awkward standoff over the issue.
The Guangdong High Court in southern China, is seeking to arrange a settlement, said Ma Dongxiao, a lawyer for Proview Electronics Co. The court on Feb. 29 began hearing Apple's appeal of lower court ruling that favored Proview in the trademark dispute.
"It is likely that we will settle out of court. The Guangdong High Court is helping to arrange it and the court also expects to do so," Ma said Monday.
China has sought to showcase its determination to protect trademarks and other intellectual property, but with hundreds of thousands employed in the assembly of Apple's iPhones and iPads is unlikely to want to disrupt the company's production and marketing in China.
Court officials contacted by phone said they were not authorized to comment on the issue to foreign media.
The Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, a state-run newspaper in Shenzhen, where Proview is based, cited the court's deputy chief judge, Xu Chunjian, as saying last week that the court was working toward a settlement.
Proview, a financially troubled maker of computer displays and LED lights, says it registered the iPad trademark more than a decade ago. Apple says Proview sold it worldwide rights to the iPad trademark in 2009, though the registration was never transferred for China.
"Actually Proview always expected to settle out of court from the beginning," Ma said. "I don't know if Apple has changed its attitude, but I believe that the key point now is the price."
Chinese courts often try to mediate agreements out of court. But it is unclear whether Apple is open to that option.
An Apple spokeswoman, Carolyn Wu, said the company had no new comment on... newsfactor.com » | | 17 | Apple Inc. risks losing the right to use the iPad trademark in China, a senior official suggested Tuesday, as a Chinese court was seeking to mediate a settlement between the technology giant and a local company challenging its use of the iPad name.
Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the National Copyright Administration, told reporters in Beijing that the government regards Shenzhen Proview Technology as the rightful owner of the trademark for the popular tablet computers. His remarks could add to pressure on Apple to find a solution to the standoff.
Yan's comments followed news that the Guangdong High Court in southern China is seeking to arrange a settlement in the case. In late February, the court began hearing Apple's appeal of a lower court ruling that favored Proview in the trademark dispute.
"The dispute between Apple and Shenzhen Proview concerning the iPad trademark is going through the judicial process," Yan said in a news conference carried on the Internet.
But he added that "according to our government's laws, Shenzhen Proview is still the lawful representative and user of the trademark."
China has sought to showcase its determination to protect trademarks and other intellectual property, but with hundreds of thousands employed in the assembly of Apple's iPhones and iPads is unlikely to want to disrupt the company's production and marketing in China.
Ma Dongxiao, a lawyer for Proview said the company had expected all along to settle with Apple, with the key sticking point being the amount of money involved.
"It is likely that we will settle out of court. The Guangdong High Court is helping to arrange it and the court also expects to do so," Ma said in a phone interview.
Court officials contacted by phone said they were not authorized to comment on the issue to foreign media.
"Given the wide implications of this case we need... newsfactor.com » |
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