A man walks past an advertisement of Apple's iPad 2 on Feb. 28 in Shanghai, China. Proview Electronics said it is now seeking to regain worldwide rights to the iPad name and is suing Apple Inc. for alleged fraud and unfair competition, hoping to have a 2009 sale of the trademark ruled void.

BEIJING – Apple’s recent market valuation of over $500 billion has invited countless comparisons, even inspiring a website that gleefully chronicles the places and things the tech giant is now valued more than.

Among other things, Apple is now worth more than the entire GDP of Poland, all the gold in the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York and America’s entire aircraft carrier fleet.

But is that enough to take the sting out of the $1.6 billion in compensation Proview Technology (Shenzhen) is rumored to be demanding in exchange for settling the thorny dispute over ownership of the iPad trademark in China? 

Last Wednesday, Guangdong’s Higher People’s Court heard an appeal from Apple after a lower court ruled in favor of Proview and declared them the actual owner of the iPad name in China. 

The significance of the case has not been lost in Chinese. Both local and foreign media were said to be staked outside the courtroom. In response to greater calls for transparency from the government, Wednesday’s legal proceedings before the three-judge panel were actually live-blogged by the court on a twitter-like service called Tencent Weibo.

The court now has almost 80,000 followers – but their decision has not been announced yet. According to Chinese law, the time limit for ruling on an appeal is three months. 

The stakes are high for everyone involved: Apple, Proview, the Chinese government and other Western investors.

High stakes
China is Apple’s second largest market behind the United States. It is also where most of its products are made –  including the highly anticipated iPad 3 which some tech-watchers are speculating may be released as soon as tomorrow. 
 
This court is typically the final word on legal proceedings in China, although Apple could still appeal to the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing. A loss would leave two undesirable options: An appeal to a Supreme Court that is not known for overturning many decisions of its lower court; or settling with the cash-strapped Proview. 

Alvin Chan / Reuters

Reporters wait outside the Higher People's Court of Guangdong in Guangzhou on Feb. 29 for Apple's appeal to the higher court in the Proview case.

For Proview, a company that at one time was an industry leader in the manufacturing of computer displays before falling on hard times, a win or an out-of-court settlement could set the stage for a dramatic revitalization of a company that now counts the Bank of China and China Banking Corp. as creditors. 

According to a Chinese-language report out last Friday, Proview’s consortium of creditors are said to be seeking $400 million from the cash-strapped company.

A settlement with Proview may be anathema to Apple; effectively inviting similar copycat suits against them in other jurisdictions, but the alternative of changing the name of a product they’ve already sold 32 million of worldwide is an equally bitter pill to swallow.

A warning for Western investors?
The need to legally resolve this issue is also uncomfortable for the Chinese government, which stands to lose politically regardless of who wins the case. 

Should Proview prevail and receive control of the trademark in China, it would stir up a certain crisis-of-faith among the foreign business community, whose concerns about intellectual property have become louder in recent years.

Sixty-six percent of respondents to the American Chamber of Commerce’s 2011 China Business Climate Survey said intellectual property rights protection is “very” or “critically” important to their business.

One U.S. businessman, who declined to be named for this piece, noted that while Apple’s spat with Proview is over the sale of a trademark and not the legal standing of the trademark itself, he would nevertheless be concerned about the strength of his company’s own trademarks in China should Apple lose. 

“Remember that line from the movie, ‘The Social Network,’ ‘You better lawyer up!’? You bet we have our lawyers looking closely now at all our company’s legal arrangements.”

It’s an example of corporate skepticism of the legal system here and a growing sentiment among the foreign business community of economic inequality between foreign and domestic companies.

That’s a sentiment that China’s ruling Communist Party wishes to avoid at all cost. In recent years the government has worked hard to improve intellectual property rights law in the country. They touted them as the Guangdong Higher People’s Court did on its Weibo feed of the court proceedings, inviting China’s web sphere to “witness the progress of intellectual property right protection in China.”

Ironically, the enforcement of those laws could potentially unravel the goodwill they were intended to build with foreign companies and investors.

Best for all? Out-of-court settlement
An Apple victory may mollify Western companies. It will also likely draw the ire of a more nationalist section of the population here that may view it as an example of China serving foreign interests before those of its own companies.

As unlikely as it may seem that a decision in Apple’s favor could lead to any mass resentment towards the government, in this sensitive time leading up to China’s leadership transition later this year, the Party is hyper-attuned to perceived public discontent.

So in the meantime, China’s government is quietly pushing through the court’s judges their dream solution to this dispute: out-of-court settlement. At the end of the hearing on Wednesday, the judge apparently gently urged Apple and Proview to consider a private settlement.

The financial motivations are there for both parties to come to the bargaining table, but Apple’s participation will either require a dramatic change of heart by the company which has refused to come to the table so far or a more pessimistic analysis of their chances in court.

Either way, you can bet the Apple CEO Tim Cook is thinking twice about his bold earlier statement last month that the company “has more money than it needs.”

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Russians head to the polls on Sunday to vote in presidential elections most expect Vladimir Putin to win handily. If Putin wins, he was previously president from 2000-2008, he will return to the Kremlin after a four-year stint as prime minister. But, support for Putin’s return is not universal – a vocal opposition has been protesting the election for months.

NBC’s Jim Maceda, who has covered Russia since the days of the Soviet Union, is in Moscow following the elections. He answered reader questions about the elections, Putin’s hold on power, the opposition, etc.

Please replay the chat below.

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CHARDON, Ohio – The kids of Chardon went back to school Friday morning. This town of 5,000 is doing everything it can to try to get things back to normal, or at least allow their children to get back to the daily routine of living and learning. No one thinks it’s going to be an easy road.

In the wake of Monday’s school shooting that took the lives of three young men and wounded two others, it will take time to heal.

“It is going to be very sad,” one of the students said as she approached Chardon High for the first time since a gunman walked inside wielding a handgun.

He was referring to two of the students that were killed, 17-year-old Russell King Jr. and 16-year-old Demetrius Hewlin, two friends who were hanging out with a tableful of pals when they were shot at around 7:30 a.m. Monday morning.

The families of both young men said their organs were donated to help others. “Demetrius’ death was not in vain,” his mother Phyllis Ferguson said during a press conference this week. “Demetrius had donated his organs. And for Demetrius’ one life, he change eight lives.” 
 
In a solemn march of sadness and condolence yesterday, parents and students walked together to the school. Each student was then given a hug before going inside for discussion and counseling. It is not going to be easy; and while Chardon vows to overcome this tragedy it also vows never to forget those who died.

The United Way of Geauga County says they have raised more than $260,000 for the Chardon Healing Fund. The funds will be used to "support both the families directly impacted and the healing of the community," according to the web site. Kim Leininger, executive director of the United Way in Geauga, told NBC News the "phones are ringing off the hook."

The first funeral will be on Saturday for 16-year-old Daniel Parmertor. The Monreal Funeral Home’s web site’s obituary for Parmertor says in part, “He enjoyed Xbox, skiing, computers, and wing night at Cleats with his friends. Danny also loved spending time with his family.”

On Thursday night the town rallied. A sea of red Chardon jerseys cheered in the stands as the basketball team went on to defeat rival Madison. But even here, on the court, there was solidarity. Before the game the opposing team wore black Chardon T-shirts; and the two teams stood together as one prior to tip off. The community of moms, dads and kids all standing together.

The young man accused of committing this horrible act, T.J. Lane, has now formally been charged with the murders. He's charged with three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault.

His lawyer has been quoted as saying his client is now distraught and filled with remorse. He will likely be tried as an adult. 

NBC News' Jo Kent contributed to this report.

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Syrian refugees wait for their turn to receive humanitarian aid at the entrance of an NGO in the area of Wadi Khaled on the Lebanese-Syrian border in northern Lebanon on Feb. 26, 2012.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon – They are just 55 miles away, but for Syrian refugees now in Tripoli, Lebanon, couldn't be more different.

We spent a cold and rainy day in Lebanon's north, crisscrossing from hospitals, to apartments to slums, meeting with Syrians fleeing their country and seeking refuge in Lebanon.

A 27-year-old patient, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he was shot in the leg by a sniper’s bullet. The wound was so severe, he couldn't get the proper treatment inside Baba Amr. Afraid to go to any hospitals inside Syria for fear of being turned over to government forces, he and his brother decided to make the trek to Lebanon. For four days they moved by car from house to house under cover of darkness and the constant barrage of war all around them.

When they crossed the border they were taken by activists to a hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city, but it was too late. The leg was severely infected and doctors had to amputate it at the knee.

For a country that over the years has seen its own share of violence, forcing many of its own citizens to take refuge in Syria, it's new for Lebanese to see Syrian refugees in their country. So much so that international aid workers and activists say Lebanon has been slow to acknowledge and deal with the flow of Syrians across the border into their country.

Part of problem, Syrian activists say, is the attempt by the Lebanese government to remain on the sidelines of the conflict – without conceding that its side effects are beginning to seep in.   

More than 7,000 Syrians refugees have fled into Lebanon and registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.  The majority of them have crossed into the north of Lebanon, activists tell us.

Dangerous trek
Over the past few days, dozens of injured residents of the besieged cities of Baba Amr and Homs have made the dangerous trek across the border. None of those we interviewed agreed to show their faces on camera. All were reluctant to give us their real names fearing their family members still living inside Syria would be hunted down.

Another refugee who called himself Abu Fares saw the war in Syria spreading five months ago and decided to flee the country with his family. Back then, Syrian officials didn't object to single families exiting all together. Now, activists say, Syrian border guards will turn back families that appear to be "fleeing" the country. More families have taken the route of entering the country illegally, making it difficult to keep an accurate number of who has entered Lebanon.

Stringer / Reuters

Syrian refugees take part in a protest to call for international protection for Syria's anti-government protesters and better living conditions for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, in front of the Red Cross offices in Tripoli, northern Lebanon on Feb. 26, 2012.

So far, no large refugee camps have been set up inside Lebanon for displaced Syrians –  unlike in neighboring Jordan, which has also taken in thousands of refugees.

Instead, what has emerged is an acute housing crisis for the families currently in Lebanon. The majority of families have taken refuge in apartments in rundown buildings, often at exuberant prices.

Abu Fares and his family of nine are living in a small shack in an illegal seaside slum in Tripoli. Without any heat or regular electricity, they have struggled to survive, relying instead on handouts for clothes, blankets and medicine. His heart and back conditions have made it impossible for him to work in the low-paying, labor intensive jobs most Syrians can vie for.
                                                                                                                            
Puddles of water filled the narrow walkways in between the shacks, and makeshift wiring and electric cables crisscrossed the alleys to the small, cramped and humid huts. Despite the hardship, Abu Fares said he has no regrets that he fled Syria and said he has no plans to return until the Assad regime steps down from power.

Not really a welcome mat
For Syrian activists, Lebanon has proven to be a dangerous country to operate. Lebanon’s weak central government has failed to fully embrace other Arab countries and international calls for Assad to step down. Lebanon for now has opted to remain impartial in the conflict, tacitly allowing refugees to come into the country, but not allowing the opposition to openly equip the Free Syrian Army.

Instead, Syrian opposition activists say they are routinely harassed by Lebanese security forces and military intelligence.

More importantly, Syria's strongest Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, has acted as a counter-balance to any major and visible opposition taking root publicly in Lebanon. Hezbollah commands a strong street presence in Lebanon and can easily mobilize large crowds in support of the embattled Syrian president. 

Instead, Syrian opposition activists feel more comfortable that their leadership remains in Turkey and abroad. They say Lebanon's past relations with Syria make it easy for Syrian intelligence and pro-Assad operatives to target them. Still, activists are discreetly using Lebanon as a base from which to supply and arm their comrades inside the country.

Even if the government in Lebanon has been reluctant to take sides in the conflict, it may not be long before the conflict forces Lebanon into a more direct course of action. 

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