iPad: Is This The End?

If you don't have an iPad yet, there's a chance that you might miss the boat completely. Reports of a legal wrangle over the rights to use the iPad name have surfaced over the last few days ... and it doesn't look good for those who still hope to get their hands on the Apple tablet.

It started with the news that investigators in Shijiazhuang "started seizing iPads last week at the request of a company that filed a complaint with the government accusing Apple Inc. of violating its rights to the iPad name." The story has since escalated, with Penn-Olson breaking the news that Amazon.cn has stopped selling iPads. Meanwhile, China Daily has also reported that other cities are removing iPads from shelves. 360buy.com has also pulled the iPad. (Yes, it's currently still showing on their site, but we aren't willing to accidentally buy an iPad to see if they are still shipping them.)

Here's where it gets interesting. Proview, the company challenging Apple, "has asked the Chinese government to block exportation of Apple's iPad, which would effectively bring global sales to a halt" according to Apple Insider and China Hearsay. The upshot of this? No more iPads. For Anyone. Anywhere.

Don't worry just yet. Not while there's still inventory in Beijing, at least. China Daily claims that Beijing authorities "were still looking into the case and would not take action until the investigation concludes." Whatever the final ruling in this case, it seems that Apple's remarkable popularity in China gets them embroiled in controversy after controversy. What will it be next?