China's Proview says in talks with creditor seeking bankruptcy

March 6 (Reuters) - Proview Technology (Shenzhen), embroiled in a legal battle with Apple Inc over the iPad trademark, is in talks with a Taiwan creditor that is seeking its bankruptcy, Proview's chairman and lawyer said on Tuesday.

Taiwan's Fubon Insurance, one several Proview creditors and a unit of Fubon Financial Holding Co Ltd, has applied to the courts for bankruptcy proceedings against Proview because of $8.68 million in outstanding debt, lawyers and media reports said.

If the courts accept the bankruptcy application, it could disrupt Proview's high-profile lawsuit with Apple being heard at the Guangzhou high court, which has yet to make a decision on whether Apple has infringed upon Proview's claim to the iPad trademark, lawyers and analysts said.

"We are in talks with Fubon now. We will want to protect our creditors," Proview Technology Chairman Yang Long-san told Reuters.

Proview's lawyer from Grandall Legal Group, Roger Xie, said other creditors had not made similar applications.

"The rest of the creditors understand the situation and they know Proview still has some assets, such as the iPad trademark, which could be used to pay back its loans," he said.

Proview's main creditors are Bank of China Ltd , China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd , China Development Bank, China Guangfa Bank, Bank of Communications Co Ltd, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co Ltd, Hua Xia Bank Co Ltd and Shenzhen Pingan Bank.

The legal tussle between Apple, the world's most valuable company, and Proview, whose Hong Kong-listed parent Proview International Holdings Ltd is near bankrupt, has escalated in recent months, with the iPad 3 due to launch this week.

Last week, the Higher People's Court of Guangzhou heard an appeal by the U.S. company on the iPad lawsuit, although lawyers said a decision would not be reached for weeks or months.