Edible Apple

Apple yesterday scored a victory in its ongoing legal dispute with the Chinese-based Proview who is trying to preclude Apple from selling the iPad in China, alleging that Apple’s tablet infringes upon Proview’s iPad trademark. Apple, for its part, claims that it bought the rights to the iPad trademark from Proview in 2009.

In any event, Reuters is reporting that a Shanghai Court has rejected Proview’s motion for an injunction against the iPad.

The Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court denied a request by Proview Technology (Shenzhen) for the injunction and agreed to Apple’s request that the trademark infringement case be suspended pending a ruling in a separate case in a higher court.

The decision, announced on Thursday on the court’s website, gives Apple some leeway in a larger battle over the iPad trademark in China, which is important to Apple not only as a consumer market, but also because the country is a major production base for the iPad and other of its products.

Its attention will now shift to the appeal it has filed against an earlier decision in Proview’s favor by a court in Shenzhen, in the southern province of Guangdong.

While there are still legal battles ahead, the rejection of the injunction is an important victory for Apple. Shanghai is one of Apple’s biggest markets as the company has three large stores there.

It’s worth noting, and indeed Apple’s lawyers made mention of this during court proceedings, that Proview has no products and no customers. What’s more, they’re in desperate need of assets as they risk permanent exclusion from the Hong Kong stock exchange.