Lately, when you hear about Apple filing a lawsuit, it usually involves them fighting with Samsung over the uncanny resemblance some of their tablets and phones have to the iPhone and iPad.

This latest suit, though, has made a bit of a left turn into the Twilight Zone. Apple has lost a trademark dispute in China—over the use of the “iPad” trademark.

Yes, you read that correctly.

A Chinese court has ruled that Proview Technology has owned the “iPad” name for use in China since about 2000. Apple thought it had secured the trademark from Proview’s Taiwan arm of the company, but a Chinese court says that the Shenzhen arm of the company is the proper owner of the name. That means the deal Apple made with Proview (Taiwan)–or, more accurately the UK company that bought the rights from them—didn’t mean anything and now Proview (Shenzhen) is seeking over one billion dollars in “compensation” from Apple.

We’ll have to see where this ends up, but all things considered, the irony is overpowering…