1. Apple faces iPad legal battle in China 15 February 2012 Last updated at 03:49 GMT A Chinese technology company is claiming that it still owns the iPad trademark, and it will seek a ban on exports of Apple's tablet PCs from China. Proview Technology has petitioned Chinese customs authorities to stop shipments of Apple's popular iPads leaving China. Apple says it bought Proview's rights to the trademark some time ago, including the rights to the iPad name from a Taiwan subsidiary. But Proview says that did not cover China.

2. A Shanghai court has rejected a request to stop Apple selling its iPad in the city The Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court 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 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.China 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.

3. Apple’s iPhone trademark battle in China may grow after Proview, launched a legal case in the US. According to Reuters, Proview has taken its claim to a Californian court, accusing Apple of deceptively buying the trademark from the companyAccording to Reuters The case in China remains ongoing after Apple appealed the decision last month and the appeal hearing will take place before the end of the month.Apple appealed the decision Last week it’s CEO demanded “proper” payment from Apple, while two banks were revealed to be “controlling” creditors of the company, suggesting they may push it into a cash settlement.demanded “proper” paymenttwo banks were revealed However, the US action may simply be the latest attempt from the cash-strapped firm to get Apple to talk figures and give it what could be a significant pay-out.

4. In 2010, Foxconn was under the spotlight of the media due to the suicide tragedies. At least 18 workers committed suicides and 3 survived. One year on from the spate of suicides, SACOM has high expectation on Foxconn and Apple to ensure decent working conditions at the factories. In spring 2011, SACOM visited Foxconn's iPad production site in Chengdu. Labour rights violations and harsh management remain. Workers always have excessive and forced overtime work..……

5. In 2010, Foxconn was under the spotlight of the media due to the suicide tragedies 2 The investigation gives a detailed picture of life for the 500,000 workers at the Shenzhen and Chengdu factories owned by Foxconn, which produces millions of Apple products each year. Among the allegations made by workers interviewed by the NGOs are claims that: ■ Excessive overtime is routine, despite a legal limit of 36 hours a month. ■ Workers attempting to meet the huge demand for the first iPad were sometimes pressured to take only one day off in 13.iPad Foxconn produced its first iPad at Chengdu last November and expects to produce 100m a year by 2013. Last year Apple sold more than 15m iPads worldwide and has already sold close to five million this year.

6. Foxconn management and Apple With 1.2 million workers, Foxconn is by far Apple's largest and most influential partner. Manager Louis Woo confirmed that workers sometimes worked more than the statutory overtime limit to meet demand from western consumers, but claimed that all the extra hours were voluntary. Workers claim that, if they turn down excessive demands for overtime, they will be forced to rely on their basic wage In a statement, Apple said: "Apple is committed to ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility throughout our supply base. Apple requires suppliers to commit to our comprehensive supplier code of conduct as a condition of their contracts with us. “

7. FOXCONN Technology Group Workforce Perception and Satisfaction Report, 2012 Descriptives - Overall

8. Fair Labor Association releases Apple labor investigation report The Fair Labor association has just released its anticipated report on its investigation of Apple's labor conditions at the Foxconn factories in China. The FLA is an independent organization that Apple voluntarily asked to audit its factories after its working conditions came under question and harsh criticism in JanuaryApple voluntarily asked to audit its factories

9. Fair Labor Association details serious worker issues at Foxconn factories We've broken out some of the relevant findings below: Average hours worked per week was found to be fifty-six (the legal limit is forty-nine hours a week including overtime). Half of the workers reported that they had worked eleven or more days in a row. Thirty-three percent of the workers said that they wanted to work more hours, and feared that further restrictions would lead to lower pay. While the factory workers make more than the minimun wage in China, sixty-four percent said that their pay was not enough to "cover basic needs."

10. Fair Labor Association Report leads to Apple and Foxconn promises to change working conditions in China In a landmark development for the way Western companies do business in China, Apple Inc said Thursday it had agreed to work with partner Foxconn to substantially improve wages and working conditions at the factories that produce its wildly popular products. Foxconn will hire tens of thousands of new workers, clamp down on illegal overtime, improve safety protocols and upgrade worker housing and other amenities. The moves came in response to one of the largest investigations ever conducted of a U.S. company's operations abroad. Apple had agreed to the probe by the independent Fair Labor Association in response to a crescendo of criticism that its products were built on the backs of mistreated Chinese workers.

11. Fair Labor Association Report leads to Apple and Foxconn promises to change working conditions in China - 2 "Apple and Foxconn are obviously the two biggest players in this sector and since they're teaming up to drive this change, I really do think they set the bar for the rest of the sector," FLA President Auret van Heerden told Reuters in an interview. More immediately, the Apple-Foxconn agreement will raise costs for other manufacturers who contract with the Taiwanese company, including Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard, Amazon.com Inc, Motorola Mobility Holdings, Nokia Oyj and Sony Corp. The agreement will likely result in higher prices for consumers, though the impact will be limited because labor costs are only a small fraction of the total cost for most high-tech devices.