Apple Lawyer Proposes Clarifying Statement On iPad 4G, Refunds

Lawyers for Apple Inc. (AAPL) and the country's competition regulator will seek to present to a federal court Wednesday an agreed clarification statement on the compatibility of the new iPad with 4G telecommunications networks in the country.

The clarification would be part of interim measures aimed at consumers who may have been misled by descriptions of the device ahead of a trial.

Paul Anastassiou, senior council representing Apple, told the court the company had already made an offer to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, or ACCC, to put a clarification on its website and at sales points telling consumers the new device isn't compatible with Telstra Corp.'s (TLS.AU) 4G network in Australia, but had rejected the regulator's call to put stickers on packaging.

Anastassiou also said Apple had proposed offering a refund for purchasers of the new model iPad who may feel they were misled by the companies description of the device, although he added Apple was confident very few people would apply to return their iPad.

Judge Mordecai Bromberg called a recess until later Wednesday, when he said he would hear the proposal on interim measures from the two parties and when he said he expected to say whether he would be available for a trial after the Easter holidays.

The Competition Commission has lodged a complaint with the federal court in Melbourne accusing Apple of breaches of consumer law over its marketing of the tablet computer

The hearing continues.

-By Robb M. Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]