The official said Monday that investigators in Shijiazhuang, southwest of Beijing, 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.
Shenzhen Proview Technology registered the iPad trademark in China in 2001.
Apple bought rights to the name from a Taiwan company affiliated with Proview but the mainland company says it still has rights to use the name in China.
A Chinese court rejected Apple's claim to the name in China last year.
An Apple spokeswoman in Beijing declined to comment.
