Apple Inc. lost a round in southern China when a court rejected its claim that Proview Technology is infringing on Apple's iPad trademark.

The court's decision was based on the claim by Taiwanese-based firm Proview Technology that it had lawfully registered the "IPAD" trademark last 2000. It was further reported that Proview Technology, a flatscreen contract manufacturer, made several unsuccessful attempts to sell a tablet computer during the year the trademark was filed. The "IPAD" name was also registered in several countries including the EU, China, Mexico, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Several trademark databases showed that the company registered this trademark between the years 2000-2004.

Xiao Caiyuan, a lawyer for Proview at Guangdong Guanghe law firm, said, "Apple is such a Goliath and has a good image, so people wouldn't imagine that Apple could possibly infringe on our intellectual property rights. People always think it is small companies infringing upon large companies' IPR."

Li Su, a representative for Proview, said, "We hope that this decision will make our negotiations with Apple a bit easier." After Apple filed its suit against Proview, Proview filed a countersuit against Apple resellers in the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Huizhou. The suit aims to put a stop on the sales and distribution of iPads. Proview Technology had indicated that they are open with the idea of negotiating a settlement. On the other hand, Apple could still make an appeal regarding the decision made by the court.

Most of the cases filed by Apple regarding intellectual property rights infringements in China ended favorably for the company. This is just one of those "rare" cases where the competition emerged victorious. Despite this kind of setback with Apple's iPad status in China, sales figures showed that iPad is soaring high in the Chinese market. Apple already has four stores in Beijing and Shanghai as well as 1,000 authorized sellers all over the country. The lawsuit in China is just one of the worldwide legal battles that Apple is facing. In other countries, Apple is involved with several court battles against Samsung Electronics and HTC regarding a number of trademark lawsuits in the smartphone market.

When asked about this particular matter, Apple confirmed the lawsuit but declined to comment further.