Chinese Firm Says It Owns iPad Name In China

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business new starts with trouble for Apple in a giant market.

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INSKEEP: The trouble for Apple has come as it tries to sell its iPad tablet computers in China. In a city not far from Beijing, authorities have been seizing iPads from shopping malls and other retailers - not because they're fake, but because a Chinese company claims that it owns the iPad name. The company in question is Shenzhen Proview, and it registered the iPad name in China in 2001.

Apple did buy the rights to the name, but from an affiliate in Taiwan. The mainland Chinese company maintains it still owns the name in China, and it wants iPads and all promotional materials seized in 20 other cities.

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