Apple has just sorted out the trademark dispute between the company and Shenzhen Proview Technology regarding the rights to the iPad name but another trademark suit has just popped up in China, this one related to Snow Leopard.
This time around a Chinese household chemical company called Jiangsu Xuebao has filed a lawsuit claiming that Apple’s use of Snow Leopard for Mac OS X infringes on their trademark. According to the report from MIC Gadget Jiangsu Xuebao doesn’t actually own the Snow Leopard trademark. They do have the rights to the Chinese translation of Snow Leopard – Xuebao (雪豹) however.
The chemicals company filed the trademark in 2000, well before Apple released the Snow Leopard operating system, but Proview’s settlement with Apple may have prompted this bout of legal action. The company is reportedly looking for roughly $80,645 in compensation and an apology from Apple.
However a Chinese lawyer gone on record as saying that Jiangsu Xuebao is unlikely to win the lawsuit since Apple has never used the trademarked term to promote Mac OS X in China. A hearing is scheduled for 10 July.
Source: CNET