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Now Proview seeks ban on ALL iPads coming out of China

No love with Apple after trademark row escalates

Chinese monitor biz Proview, which says it owns the iPad trademark, now hopes to block the import and export of Apple's trendy tablets in the country.

Proview International Holdings has already managed to get the expensive fondleslabs pulled out of some shops in China, following a ruling in the Asian nation's courts that found for Shenzhen-based Proview, which registered the "IPAD" name in 2001.

Apple is currently appealing the decision.

Today, Proview asked China's customs bureau to stop iPads moving in and out of the country.

“We are applying to customs to stop any trademark-infringing products from imports to China and also for exports,” Proview lawyer Roger Xie told Bloomberg Businessweek. “Apple wants to postpone and continue infringement of the iPad in China.”

Apple insists that it already bought Proview's rights to the name "IPAD" in ten different countries, including China.

“Proview refuses to honor their agreement with Apple in China,” Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu said. “Our case is still pending in mainland China.”

Getting a ban on importing iPads wouldn't really be too bad for the fruity firm, but if Proview was successful in stopping exports, it would cut off Apple's supply chain at the source because its iPads are manufactured by Chinese firms, including Foxconn.

A successful suspension of iPad exports could call a halt to fruity fondleslab sales worldwide, turning what was, in the grand scheme of things, an annoying little lawsuit into a major problem for Cupertino. ®

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