By Susanna Alfonso
Apple will roll out its iPad in China on July 20 after paying $60 million to settle a dispute over the ownership of the tablet computer's name.
Even though all of Apple's products are assembled in China at Foxcon, the iPad has not been for sale in the country, except for fake versions of the popular tablet computer.
Apple Inc. says it will begin selling its latest iPad starting at $499 and the older iPad 2 starting at $399.
The $60 Million dispute is because Apple bought the trademark to "iPad" from Proview. It was the name of a discontinued product from the monitor manufacturer. While the two companies were negotiating trademark issues, some controversies occurred.
The conclusion was that Apple ended up paying Proview $60 million for the trademark in Mainland China, over and above the $35,000 they had originally paid for the worldwide rights.
Meanwhile, Proview insisted that the offshore company did not have the right to sell the Mainland trademark, while Apple said that it had bought the global rights.
In the end, Apple paid a further $60 million for the Mainland rights. That is why Apple is finally able to sell the iPad in China.
