[ti:Apple in Legal Battle Over iPad Name in China] [ar:June Simms] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English ECONOMICS REPORT. [00:05.93]Industry experts expect the technology company Apple [00:10.77]to release a new iPad on March seventh. [00:14.69]Apple sold over fifteen million iPads [00:19.33]in the final three months of last year alone. [00:23.66]Now the popular computer tablet [00:27.20]is in its third generation. [00:29.52]But as Apple prepares to launch a new iPad, [00:34.06]it faces legal cases in China [00:37.09]over rights to the name of the device. [00:40.42]On Wednesday, a court in Guangdong province heard a case [00:46.26]brought by the Chinese company Proview Technology. [00:50.45]Proview is based in Shenzhen in China¡¯s south, [00:56.02]and belongs to Proview International Holdings Ltd. [01:01.27]The company says it holds the legal rights [01:05.46]to the iPad name in China. [01:07.75]Apple says it bought the iPad trademark in China [01:13.09]and nine other countries from a business owned [01:17.17]by Proview in two thousand nine. [01:20.29]A lawyer for Proview, Xie Xianghui, said Wednesday [01:26.72]that he believes Apple has not provided new evidence [01:31.31]for the case in Guangdong. [01:32.87]Apple is appealing a decision by a lower court. [01:38.30]The court ruled that the company does not own the iPad name. [01:43.51]Another lawyer for Proview, Xiao Caiyuan, [01:48.73]said the legal issue over the trademark is clear. [01:52.72]He said his company is fighting Apple [01:56.20]over the idea of ownership. [01:58.86]He also said Proview would settle with Apple [02:02.98]for the right amount of money. [02:05.18]Proview says it holds the trademark for the name of a device [02:10.35]called an Internet Personal Access Device, or IPAD. [02:16.04]The device looks like a desktop computer. [02:20.32]Proview says it sold about twenty thousand of them [02:25.25]over about ten years. [02:27.65]It says it received the trademark or legal rights [02:31.98]to the name in two thousand one. [02:34.47]Proview is in financial trouble. [02:38.28]It has reported losses since two thousand eight [02:42.82]and cut thousands of workers. [02:46.08]Apple¡¯s legal team says [02:50.25]that Proview is nearing financial failure. [02:53.44]They say it has no product, no buyers or suppliers. [02:59.08]Apple argues a ruling against it [03:03.37]would harm the interests of buyers in China. [03:06.31]Apple¡¯s holds seventy-six percent of the tablet [03:11.11]computer market in the country with its iPad. [03:14.82]A final decision by the high court in Guangdong [03:18.74]is expected to take weeks. [03:21.13]Still, at least for now, the legal battle [03:25.62]has not hurt Apple¡¯s stock price. [03:28.83]The technology company has the most valuable [03:31.91]publicly traded stock in the world, [03:34.61]with a total value of about five hundred billion dollars. [03:39.13]And that¡¯s the VOA Special English Economics Report. [03:44.77]To read and hear more economics news [03:48.56]for people learning English, [03:50.63]go to voaspecialenglish. [03:54.05]And follow us on Facebook, YouTube and iTunes. [03:58.14]I¡¯m June Simms.