Apple has made an offer to resolve the imbroglio over the Chinese iPad trademark according to Roger Xie, a lawyer representing the Proview Technology (Shenzhen), the bankrupt company that claims the mark wasn't included in the rights Apple acquired from a sister company in 2009.

Whatever amount Apple's offered it apparently isn't enough to satisfy Proview, which owes $400 million to Chinese banks.

Apple has been under pressure from a Chinese appeals court to settle but has been reluctant to sit down. It is believed the court could uphold a lower court's decision that Proview owns the trademark.

The lawyer told the official government newswire Xinhua over the weekend that "We feel that the attitude of Apple Inc. has changed. Although they expressed that they were willing to negotiate, they have never taken any action before. But now, they are having conversations with us, and we have begun to consult on the case."

He repeated to Bloomberg by phone that "The Guangdong Higher People's court is trying to mediate this, and both parties are trying to negotiate and come to a settlement. Right now, there is still a big gap between the two sides on the settlement amount."

Apple, which maintains that Proview has failed to honor the agreement transferring the mark, hasn't said anything. It also hasn't released the latest iPad in China, its second-biggest market after the US. It had also reportedly threatened to sue Proview for defamation and interference in its business and business relationships.