Taiwan-based Proview Electronics Company, Ltd., ("Proview Taiwan"), a leading producer of high-quality monitors for computers and media devices, announced today that it has filed an amended complaint in California Superior Court in Santa Clara, accusing Apple Inc. of fraud and unfair competition.

Separately, in another action, Shenzhen-based Proview Technology Shenzhen Co, Ltd. continues to pursue litigation against Apple in China. In the Chinese lawsuit, Proview Technology Shenzhen Co, Ltd. has demonstrated that the IPAD trademark for Mainland China was never assigned to Apple or its affiliates. The legal questions and remedies in the China and U.S. lawsuits are separate and distinct and have no bearing on one another.

After taking Apple to court over alleged infringement of the iPad trademark, successfully convincing the court over the allegations, leading to incidents of Chinese authorities pulling iPad off shelves, and taking it further to seek an seeking an export ban, ProView softened its stand. ProView's lawyer Xie Xianghui said that his client is open to talks with Apple over reaching a settlement. He believes that both sides are "still able to sit together and reach an out-of-court settlement."

The saga began with Apple acquiring rights to use the "iPad" brand name in China from ProView, which the latter claimed was acquired using dubious means, through a newly floated company by Apple, without ProView knowing it who it was really dealing with. This way, Apple probably bought rights to the brand name for much lower than what ProView would have sold them for, had it known who it was dealing with. iPad went on to become one of Apple's most successful brands. ProView sought a large amount of money from Apple in damages.

After a significant victory in a long drawn out trademark dispute with Apple over the name "iPad", in which Chinese courts ruled in favor of ProView, followed by Chinese authorities beginning implementing the order by pulling iPad off shelves in stores, ProView is going for the kill, and seeking an export ban on Apple iPad till the Cupertino company reaches a fresh agreement with it over use of the trademark "iPad", and pays the $1.5 billion it sought in damages. Apple manufactures iPad through foundry partners such as Foxconn, which are located in China. An export-ban would kill supply of iPad worldwide, as China is the only country in which it is manufactured.

Authorities and retailers have started taking Apple iPad off shelves in China, as an implementation of a court-order. Representatives of State agency Administrations of Industry and Commerce (AIC) have started confiscating inventories of the tablet from some retailers, while other retailers have voluntarily de-listed it, and taken it off shelves. The court-order is a result of a long drawn out battle between Chinese company ProView and Apple over the trademark "iPad".

Apple acquired the "iPad" brand name from ProView in 2006 by what the latter alleged as "dubious means", by floating a proxy shell company called "IP Application Development", without ProView having the slightest clue that it was dealing with Apple, which would go on use it for one of its biggest product lines. The only way Apple can get out of this mess is by working out a fresh agreement with ProView over the use of the iPad trademark, and possibly paying up to US $1.5 billion, which ProView seeks in damages. Apple is already having to pay a fine of $38 million to the Chinese regulators.