From the SMW archive. Originally published December 8, 2011. This article is preserved as a historical record — facts, figures, and market context reflect 2011.

Apple Loses iPad Patent Battle in China

By Ed Liston · December 8, 2011

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), in a major setback, has lost a lawsuit against a local company after a Chinese court rejected Apple’s claim to the iPad trademark, which is owned by Proview Technology in China.

Apple may have to sell its iPad range of tablet computers under a different brand name in China, or pay somewhere around $1.6 billion to retain the trademark in the region. The lawsuit, filed by Apple accusing Proview of infringing on the iPad trademark, was turned down by the Municipal Intermediate People’s Court in Shenzhen, a southern Chinese city. Proview Technology (Shenzhen) is part of Proview International Holdings Limited, headquartered in Hong Kong with a branch in Taipei.

Proview registered the iPad trademark in 2001 in various countries, long before the launch of Apple’s tablet computer of the same name. According to reports, Apple paid the company about $54,616 in 2009 to acquire the trademark. Proview Shenzhen, however, kept the rights to the trademark in China, as it was said not to have been party to the earlier agreement with Proview in Taiwan.

At an earlier earnings conference, Apple chief executive Tim Cook had said the sky is the limit in the Chinese market; the company has now run into trouble there. The Apple Stores in Beijing are among the company’s top earners.

In other news, a request for an injunction by South Korean electronics major Samsung Electronics in a French court, seeking to prevent Apple from selling the iPhone 4S in France, has been rejected. Samsung had claimed that the new iPhone 4S copied several elements from its Galaxy range of mobile phones.

In its verdict, the French court called the request out of proportion and ordered Samsung to pay Apple’s legal fees of 10,000 euros. The case in France is one of many legal battles across numerous countries, including the United States and Italy, over the intellectual property protecting smartphones and tablet computers. A spokesperson for Samsung in France declined to comment, and Apple representatives could not be reached. Samsung dominated the world smartphone market in the previous quarter, whereas Apple is the leader in tablets.

Ed Liston was a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guided an independent team of experienced analysts and wrote for multiple stock trader publications.