BEIJING (AP) ? 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 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 change if Beijing decides to intervene to avoid disrupting iPad sales or exports from factories in southern China.
