A Chinese customer tests out iPad in an Apple Store in China. [CFP]

Chinese computer-display manufacturer Proview Technology plans to sue Apple Inc in the United States for up to US$2 billion, accusing the IT giant and its subsidiary of lying their way into obtaining overseas rights to the name "iPad."

Li Su, a consultant for Proview, said the company is talking with lawyers in US and will file the suit for fraudulence within one month. Claims by the firm could reach US$2 billion, he said.

Founder of Proview Technology's parent company Proview International Yang Long-san said IP Application Development, a UK-based firm, actually set up by Apple Inc, bought the trademark in 2009 from Proview for ￡35,000 and promised it would not produce anything that competes with Proview's products under the name of "iPad". But just months after the purchase, IP Application Development sold the name to Apple for only ￡10.

Yang also claimed that the lawyer appointed by IP Application Development used a fake name during the negotiations with Proview, and that the person listed couldn't be reached later on.

Proview rolled out a new product, a small personal computer, under the name "Internet Personal Access Device" in 2000. Proview Taiwan, another affiliate of Proview International, registered the trademark of "iPad" in a slew of countries and regions as early as in 2000. Proview Technology registered the same trademark on Chinese mainland in 2001.

Despite plans to take Apple Inc to court in the U.S., the company still hoped it could reach a settlement, Li said.

Due to Proview's financial struggles, eight Chinese banks seized rights to the "iPad" trademark, as well as Proview's other assets. If a compensation deal is reached between Proview and Apple, the eight banks will become the beneficiaries of the settlement.

China's business press carried the story above on Monday.

Contact the writer of this story at: hes@china.org.cn.