Tag Archives: China

Marvel-ous: Comic Legend Sues for $1 Billion

Caught in a web of lies

The 95-year-old creator of popular super hero franchises such as Spider-Man, X-Men, and The Avengers has filed a billion dollar lawsuit against a Chinese company. Stan Lee, the former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, is claiming that Pow Entertainment duped him into signing over his likeness, naming rights, and creative properties. The lawsuit was filed in a California court and named his former business partners, Gill Champion and Shane Duffy, as those responsible. When reached for comment, the defendant’s responded saying that the accusations were “preposterous”. Pow Entertainment was sold to a Hong Kong-based firm in 2017. This is the latest in a series of unfortunate events for Lee, who had his identity stolen late last year when a condo in Los Angeles was sold for almost $900k, with Lee claiming that almost $5m has gone missing from his bank account over the years. Read More

Battle Lines Drawn Over World War II Statue

Healing old wounds

Residents of Southern California have filed a lawsuit against the city of Glendale over a controversial World War II statue. The $30,000 “Comfort Women” memorial is in honor of those Chinese and Korean women who were allegedly forced into prostitution by Imperial Japan in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The plaintiffs claim that the city is violating the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which is also referred to as “the law of the land”. Supporters of the statue are active in spreading word about the comfort women issue, while the Japanese government has never officially apologized on the record. While no dollar amount has been mentioned, many believe the plaintiffs are strictly interested in removing the statue altogether. Read more

Core Firm in Settlement Wants Their Share of Apple Pie

We want a slice

We recently wrote about how a Chinese tech company won a settlement against Apple to the tune of $60 million over its iPad trademark. However, when it comes to paying the law firm that helped them earn that paycheck, Proview seems to be skipping out on the bill. The Grandall Law Firm is suing for their agreed-upon share of the settlement, which comes out to $2.4 million. Proview founder Yang Rongshan has been quoted as saying the complaints by the firm are “nonsense” and has insisted that they will be paying the bill eventually. The company itself is rumored to be in the process of liquidation due to impending bankruptcy, lending some insight to Grandall Law’s insistence on being paid as soon as possible. Continue reading →

Apple Turnover: iPad Settlement Goes for $60 Million in China

iPad

Apple has agreed to pay a $60 million to a Chinese company to settle a lawsuit over the iPad trademark. Proview Technology will receive a small fraction of their original asking price of $400 million, which might help them recover from the fringe of insolvency. Certainly not a bad pay day. Although the technological terror that is Apple Inc. has plenty of money to throw around, I hope somebody lost their job for over-looking the fact that they trademarked the word “iPad” in every country except the largest one in the world. More details and analysis after the jump.

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