【VOA听写】Apple in Legal Battle Over iPad Name in China

This is the VOA Special English ECONOMICS REPORT.

Industry experts expect the technology company Apple to release a new iPad on March seventh. Apple sold over fifteen million iPads in the final three months of last year alone. Now the popular computer tablet is in its third generation.

But as Apple prepares to launch a new iPad, it faces legal cases in China over rights to the name of the device.

On Wednesday, a court in Guangdong province heard a case brought by the Chinese company Proview Technology. Proview is based in Shenzhen in China's south, and belongs to Proview International Holdings Ltd. The company says it holds the legal rights to the iPad name in China. Apple says it bought the iPad trademark in China and nine other countries from a business owned by Proview in two thousand nine.

A lawyer for Proview, Xie Xianghui, said Wednesday that he believes Apple has not provided new evidence
for the case in Guangdong. Apple is appealing a decision by a lower court. The court ruled that the company does not own the iPad name. Another lawyer for Proview, Xiao Caiyuan, said the legal issue over the trademark is clear. He said his company is fighting Apple over the idea of ownership. He also said Proview would settle with Apple for the right amount of money.

Proview says it holds the trademark for the name of a device called an Internet Personal Access Device, or IPAD. The device looks like a desktop computer. Proview says it sold about twenty thousand of them over about ten years. It says it received the trademark or legal rights to the name in two thousand one.

Proview is in financial trouble. It has reported losses since two thousand eight and cut thousands of workers. Apple's legal team says that Proview is nearing financial failure. They say it has no product, no buyers or suppliers.

Apple argues a ruling against it would harm the interests of buyers in China. Apple's holds seventy-six percent of the tablet computer market in the country with its iPad. A final decision by the high court in Guangdong is expected to take weeks.

Still, at least for now, the legal battle has not hurt Apple's stock price. The technology company has the most valuable publicly traded stock in the world, with a total value of about five hundred billion dollars.

 

苹果唯冠iPad商标权之争

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

业内专家预计科技公司苹果将于3月7日发布新一代iPad。苹果公司仅在去年最后一个季度就售出了超过1500万台iPad。现在这种流行的平板电脑已经到了第三代。但随着苹果公司准备推出新一代iPad,在该设备的名称权上,它在中国面临了法律诉讼。

上周三,广东省一家法院审理了中国公司唯冠科技发起的一起诉讼。唯冠总部设在中国南方的深圳市,隶属于唯冠国际控股有限公司。该公司表示,它在中国拥有iPad名称的合法权益。苹果公司表示,2009年,它从唯冠一家下属企业购买了中国和九个其它国家的iPad商标。

唯冠的一名律师谢湘辉周三表示,他认为苹果公司在广东这起诉讼中未能提供新的证据。苹果是对下级法院做出的判决提起上诉。该下级法院裁决苹果公司不拥有iPad名称。

唯冠的另一名律师肖才元表示,这起商标法律诉讼是非常清晰的。他说唯冠正和苹果争夺所有权。他还表示,唯冠愿意以适当价钱同苹果和解。唯冠称其在一种名为个人互联网接入设备(Internet Personal Access Device, 简称IPAD)的产品上拥有iPad商标。 该设备看起来像台式电脑。 唯冠表示在近十年时间里他们售出了大约2万台这种设备, 并于2001年获得商标或该名称的合法权益。

唯冠正处于财政困难中。自2008年来它一直亏损并裁掉了数千名工人。苹果公司的法律团队表示,唯冠已接近破产。并表示,唯冠没有产品,没有买家或供应商。

苹果公司认为对它的一项裁决会损害中国买家的利益。苹果以iPad占有了中国76%的平板电脑市场。广东高院的最终裁决预计需要数周时间。

尽管如此,至少在目前这起法律之争没有伤害到苹果公司股价。这家科技公司拥有全球最高价值的股票,总市值近5千亿美元。