Apple Inc's new iPad has received 3C certification from a Chinese industry regulator, and a possible launch may be soon on China's mainland, although the company still has a lawsuit pending with Shenzhen-based Proview over the trademark ownership of iPad in the domestic market, Shanghai Daily learned Sunday.

Apple was awarded the China Compulsory Certification, or 3C, for the new Wi-Fi iPad on Thursday and it is valid until 2017, according to the website of China Quality Certification Center. There was, however, no mention of the WiFi plus 4G version.

It takes about one month for Apple to officially launch the latest iPad models after getting the 3C certification. Last year, Apple launched the iPad 2 in May, one month after it got the 3C certification.

But the ongoing lawsuit over the iPad trademark may influence the new iPad's launch.

Proview sued Apple to claim the ownership of the iPad trademark in the mainland. It has also asked Apple and its retailers to stop selling iPads on the mainland.

The new iPad started selling from March 16 in overseas markets like the US, Singapore and Hong Kong and analysts said Apple sold about 700,000 new iPads on average daily.