蘋果終於了結中國iPad商標糾紛
Applehas agreed to pay $60m to settle a trademark dispute with Proview Technology (Shenzhen), which has spent the past two years trying to block the sale of the iPad in China, a market that has underpinned Apple's rapid international expansion.
蘋果公司(Apple)同意向唯冠科技（深圳）有限公司(Proview Technology(Shenzhen)，簡稱唯冠深圳)支付6000萬美元了結商標糾紛。過去兩年來，唯冠深圳以商標侵權爲名試圖阻礙iPad在中國大陸的銷售，而中國大陸是支撐蘋果國際業務快速增長的關鍵市場。The US group agreed to settle with the mainland division of Proview International, a Hong Kong-listed technology group, in return for ownership of the iPad trademark in China, according to a statement by the Higher People's Court of Guangdong. The deal took effect on Monday.
廣東省高級法院的一份聲明顯示，蘋果公司已與香港上市科技企業唯冠國際控股有限公司(Proview International Holdings Limited，簡稱唯冠國際)的大陸子公司達成和解，以換取iPad商標在中國大陸的所有權。該協議自週一起生效。Apple is preparing to launch the iPad 3 in China, with local regulators giving their approval in March for the device to go on sale in the country in spite of the lawsuit with Proview Shenzhen. Apple has yet to announce the launch date.
蘋果目前準備在中國大陸發售iPad 3，並早在今年3月即得到中國監管當局的銷售許可，雖然當時蘋果與唯冠深圳之間的商標侵權訴訟尚未完結。蘋果尚未公佈iPad 3的發售日期。
Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA, a Beijing-based consultancy, said the settlement would have a "modest" impact on Apple's sales in China, where the company was already doing very well. "If the product is a hit in the US, it's a hit in China too," he said.
北京諮詢公司BDA的董事長鄧肯•克拉克(Duncan Clark)表示，該和解方案對蘋果在中國大陸的銷售只會產生"溫和"影響，蘋果在中國市場已經表現不俗。他表示："如果iPad 3在美國市場暢銷，在中國市場就肯定能夠引發追捧。"Proview Shenzhen registered the iPad trademark in China in 2001, nine years before Apple unveiled its iPad. Separately, Proview's Taiwan unit had registered the iPad trademark in the EU and six other markets between 2000 and 2004, which it sold to Apple for £35,000 ($54,800) in 2009 – a deal Apple insisted had included China. This was challenged by Proview Shenzhen.
唯冠深圳早在2001年即在中國大陸註冊了iPad商標，較蘋果推出iPad產品早了九年。另一方面，唯冠國際的臺灣子公司則在2000年至2004年期間在歐盟和其他六個市場註冊了iPad商標所有權，並在2009年以3.5萬英鎊（合5.48萬美元）的價格將其出售給蘋果。蘋果曾堅稱該交易包含中國大陸市場，唯冠深圳對此提出異議。In a series of rulings since 2010, courts in the US and Hong Kong had found in favour of Apple but a number of lower courts in mainland China supported Proview Shenzhen's position. Little was done to stop the sale of the iPad, however, as local courts had refused to back Proview Shenzhen's application to block shipments of the iPad in and out of China, where the product is manufactured, and to stop local retailers from selling Apple's iPads.
自2010年起的一系列法庭裁決中，美國和香港法庭做出的判決結果有利於蘋果，而中國大陸多個下級法庭支持唯冠深圳的主張。不過iPad的銷售幾乎不受影響，因爲中國法庭拒絕支持唯冠深圳停止iPad進出口（iPad在中國製造）以及禁止國內零售商銷售iPad的請求。"The iPad dispute is over. The court decided that a settlement would be in the best interest of both parties. Proview Shenzhen is understood to have a lot of debt and have several hundred creditors and its major asset is the iPad trademark," the court's statement said.
廣東省高級人民法院在聲明中稱："有關iPad商標的爭端現已解決。本院認爲協議和解最符合當事雙方利益。唯冠深圳目前負債較多，債權方多達數百，iPad商標是其主要資產。"China is Apple's biggest market outside of the US and where it had about 65 per cent of the market share for tablet computers in the first quarter, according to technology research firm IDC. But it faces growing competition from local PC-maker Lenovo, which launched its Le Pad last year, and Samsung'sGalaxy Tab.
科技行業研究公司IDC的數據顯示，中國是蘋果在美國以外的最大海外市場，今年一季度蘋果在中國平板電腦市場所佔份額達到約65%。但中國本土PC生產商聯想(Lenovo)去年推出的樂Pad平板電腦以及三星Galaxy Tab系列平板電腦使蘋果在中國市場面臨日漸增大的競爭壓力。Apple could not be reached for comment on Monday.
記者週一未能聯繫到蘋果公司請其置評。
