In U.S. Proview Sues Apple Over Alleged Deception In Purchase Of iPad Trademarks

According to Reuters, the legal dispute over the iPad trademark has taken an interesting twist, with Proview filing a lawsuit against Apple in the U.S. over deception associated with the deal between Apple and Proview.

Apple established a dummy corporation under the name IP Application Development Ltd (IPAD) in order to enter into negotiations over the trademark with Proview in 2009. In its lawsuit, Proview alleges that Apple's efforts to conceal its identity amounted to fraud.

“In its filing, Proview alleged lawyers for IPAD repeatedly said it would not be competing with the Chinese firm, and refused to say why they needed the trademark”.

“Those representations were made "with the intent to defraud and induce the plaintiffs to enter into the agreement”.

Establishing dummy corporations is not uncommon in business negotiations, because companies sometimes want to hide their identities when acquiring intellectual property in support of their products under development. By doing this, companies hope to avoid revealing their plans while reaching good deals with companies who believe they are negotiating with small business rather than a cash-rich industry leader.

Apple has also used another dummy corporation with a name similar to IP Application Development to register its own trademarks for the name iPad.