The new mixed reality glasses from the Cupertino company can cause you problems in China, for reasons of trademark registrations. And it would not be the first time that those of the apple have to disburse a significant amount of money in that country, to have a free hand when it comes to selling their products. So in this post we are going to tell you what it is about, and how Apple could solve this problem.
Huawei has rights to use the Vision Pro name until 2031
The MacRumors medium echoes a publication by MyDrivers, which shows a patent for the registration of the name Vision Pro, by the Chinese company Huawei that took place on May 16, 2019. This document, as reported, gives the rights to use the name in China, on the dates between November 28, 2021 and November 27, 2031.
Huawei uses this trademark in China, and offers products under the Vision name, including smart TVs and smart glasses. And if Apple tries to sell its viewfinder in China, and calls it Vision Pro, it could enter into negotiations with Huawei to launch that brand at a price,” they explain from MacRumors.
Thus, once again Apple is in the position in which they present a product with an already defined name, but which is not registered by them throughout the globe. And when they want to enter a territory with that product, using “their own brand” they run into the fact that a third company had already requested the rights long before those of Cupertino. Trademark registration does not have to be always global and uniform in all countries. And this scenario (which is no longer the first time it has happened) is proof of this.
The same thing happened to them with the iPad in 2012
Eleven years ago, the apple company was in that same position. And it is that a company, again from China, already had the name “iPad” registered. Apple had no choice but to have to pay 60 million dollarsfor only obtaining permission to use the name to be able to market their tablets in that country.
As already reported by the same medium, but in 2012, the firm Proview sued Apple, worth two billion dollars, for compensation. Initially, the apple firm offered to disburse 16 million dollars to Proview, in addition to the fact that “they have argued in several court cases that they acquired the rights to use the iPad brand in China in 2009, as part of the deal with the subsidiary Taiwanese from Proview.ยป Subsequently, they explain, “Proview claimed that the rights to use the brand in China were owned by the Chinese subsidiary, and that the Taiwanese subsidiary should not have sold these rights to Apple.”
At the moment, when it comes to the Apple Vision Pro, It is not known how this affair will end. Until the beginning of 2024, the glasses will only be available in the US, and little (or nothing) is known about the dates on which they will end up landing in other countries.
