China orders probe into iPad trademark dispute
Starbucks has more than 500 stores across mainland China and aims to open 1,000 more in the coming years as its seeks to cash in on the growing taste for coffee in a country of mainly tea drinkers.
China has ordered a probe into the alleged iPad trademark infringement dispute between US-based gadgets maker Apple and a local company.
The probe came over a month after a Chinese court rejected Apples lawsuit accusing a local company of infringing on trademark "iPad" that could have resulted in it's having to sell it under a new name or cough up USD 1.6 billion.
The Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Shenzhen, a southern Chinese city neighbouring Hong Kong, earlier this week rejected a lawsuit by Apple accusing Proview Technology (Shenzhen) of infringing on its "iPad" trademark.
Chinas State Administration for Industry & Commerce (SAIC) is starting to investigate the iPad trademark infringement, state run Beijing Daily reported today.
The trademark dispute between Apple Inc and Shenzhen Proview Technology emerged in 2000.