[Macworld]

Post your comments for Apple pays 60 million for iPad trademark in China here

[joebot]

Apple negotiated "in good faith" to resolve a demand for ransom? Hahahahahahaha. Remind me to not do business in China. Access to that market is the kind of help you don't need.

[trichardlin]

AAPL is up more than $6.70 so far today. That ought to cover the expenses.

[TeaEarleGreyHot]

Quote

Su did not know how the $60 million received from Apple would be spent.

I'd like to say it'll be spent on "Wine, women, and song" but something in my purple files tells me the bulk will go to the lawyers & bankers, with merely a shot of baijiu, 5 minutes of internet thrill, and a pirated track of Lady Gaga's latest going to anyone who might actually deserve the windfall.

This post has been edited by TeaEarleGreyHot: 02 July 2012 - 09:43 AM

[Goripun]

LOL... They gave away all that money...
They should have changed the name to something else an avoiding giving away all that free money...

[trichardlin]

Goripun, on 02 July 2012 - 10:12 AM, said:

LOL... They gave away all that money...
They should have changed the name to something else an avoiding giving away all that free money...

Let's put 'all that money' in perspective. Apple sold more than 11 million iPad in Q2. Based on my back of the napkin calculation, that's probably close to $60M of revenue on iPad sales PER DAY. So, 'all that money' is very well spent if it helps moving iPad in the Chinese market faster.

Sure, $60M is a lot to pay off extortion, but it's actually just a rounding error for Apple.

[thomaspin]

Shake down or bad AAPL lawyering, the only surprising thing is that they did not do this 6m ago and get on with selling product.

[tfmeehan]

Goripun, on 02 July 2012 - 10:12 AM, said:

LOL... They gave away all that money...
They should have changed the name to something else an avoiding giving away all that free money...

"All that money"

A lot to you and me maybe but its not even pocket change to Apple...more like pocket lint.

[Stewsburntmonkey]

thomaspin, on 02 July 2012 - 11:27 AM, said:

Shake down or bad AAPL lawyering, the only surprising thing is that they did not do this 6m ago and get on with selling product.

I don't think it "bad lawyering." Proview originally wanted closer to half a billion dollars for the trademark (which is simply stupid). Apple was obviously able to talk them down to a still high, but at least somewhat more reasonable figure.

[Diesel50]

Goripun, on 02 July 2012 - 10:12 AM, said:

LOL... They gave away all that money...
They should have changed the name to something else an avoiding giving away all that free money...

No what should have happened is the chinese court should have put the criminal from proview in jail for extortion and told him to release all rights to apple for the trademark that they rightfully and legally paid for in 2010.

[pawhite524]

The comments I have read today all have a feel of two companies in the US of A fighting over this issue. If that were the case the arguments of what Apple "should have down" all make sense but are not valid in attempting to win a legal battle in China.
Apple was not fighting Proview over this trademark issue. They were fighting the Chinese government itself as the govt co-owns the banks owed $400 million by Proview. The government is co-owner of any money making enterprise with Chinese roots: Chinese banks, Chinese Telekom, etc.
IMHO, Apple did really well to put an end to this for $60 million. The Chinese government not getting at least 51% of the $400 million of the original price means they really value Apple's business (sales and manufacturing) in China.

[thomaspin]

Stewsburntmonkey, on 02 July 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:

thomaspin, on 02 July 2012 - 11:27 AM, said:

Shake down or bad AAPL lawyering, the only surprising thing is that they did not do this 6m ago and get on with selling product.

I don't think it "bad lawyering." Proview originally wanted closer to half a billion dollars for the trademark (which is simply stupid). Apple was obviously able to talk them down to a still high, but at least somewhat more reasonable figure.

[whitedog]

Sixty million is a lot less than $400 million and only begins to clear Proview's debts. So the Chinese banks won't get healthy off Apple alone. When you consider the size of the potential Chines market for the iPad, the settlement was, if not cheap, at least reasonable considering how much Apple stood to lose if iPad sales were delayed for any significant period of time. And the ripple effects would be dire as well. Robust iPad sales in China will mean many more jobs for Chinese workers, which provides indirect benefit to the Chinese government - jobs mean stability and continuing prosperity. On a macroeconomic scale it means more domestic commerce inside China, which takes some pressure off the decline in exports they've seen due to the world-wide recession. Given all that, the question of whether the settlement was fair or just is far from simple. Proview will still be liquidated and, given the greater stigma attached to failure in Chinese culture, Proview executives won't be getting any golden parachutes. The Chinese bankers who loaned Proview all that money may suffer some measure of disgrace as well. In the meantime, Apple will recoup that $60 million in short order. A prolonged legal dispute would only have damaged Apple's brand equity in China, so a timely settlement was vital for any number of reasons.

Bear in mind that Apple doesn't have to borrow money from anyone to underwrite their business, in China or anywhere else. Meanwhile, the companies who will be expanding their manufacturing facilities to accommodate even more Apple business no doubt will have to borrow money to finance their expansion, so the banks will see additional business there. Though it may take some time for them to recover what they lost with Proview, making Apple happy ultimately serves them well. And the Chinese government doesn't lose face for appearing to let Apple off easy. I call that a win, win, win. In the end, Proview was obviously nothing more than a proxy for the Chinese banks; they had to save some face and, in the end, did so.

I suspect Apple always expected to have to pay something to settle with Proview. The only question was how much. Now we know. As for the murky copyright laws in the Far East on which the argument at least symbolically hinged, we're in no position to look down our noses at anyone. The state of US copyright law is a shambles as well; the difference is only a matter of degree. Which, of course, is why Apple has so many other law suits pending.

[hayesk]

trichardlin, on 02 July 2012 - 09:32 AM, said:

AAPL is up more than $6.70 so far today. That ought to cover the expenses.

Not sure I follow. Apple's stock price going up doesn't give them more money.