Proview Technology, the Chinese company embroiled in a legal battle with Apple Inc over the iPad name, said on Wednesday that customs authorities had told it that the sheer size of the market and the popularity of iPads would make it difficult to impose a ban.
"The customs have told us that it will be difficult to implement a ban because many Chinese consumers love Apple products. The sheer size of the market is very big," Yang Long-san, chief of Proview Technology (Shenzhen), told Reuters in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
"We have applied to some local customs for the ban and they'll report to the headquarters in Beijing."
On Tuesday, lawyers representing Proview Technology (Shenzhen) Co Ltd said the company would seek a ban on exports of Apple's iPads from China, a major manufacturing base, a move that could deal a blow to the U.S. technology giant's sales globally.
Authorities in some Chinese cities had ordered retailers to stop selling Apple's iPad due to the dispute. Proview has asked authorities in about 20 cities, including Shijiazhuang near Beijing, to stop the sales.
"We will be asking commerce departments of more cities to investigate and deal with the case accordingly," said Roger Xie, a lawyer with Grandall Law Firm, which is representing Proview.
Yang said the best option to resolve the legal dispute would be an out-of-court settlement. The next hearing of the case is due for February 22 in Shanghai.
Apple lost a case to Proview Technology (Shenzhen) in a Shenzhen court in southern China late last year, when the court agreed that Proview owned the iPad trademark. The next hearing for this case is on February 29.
