Apple, Inc. and Apple Corps Ltd. settle trademark dispute

Posted Feb 5th 2007 10:39AM by Randall Bennett
Filed under: Deals, Good news, Law, Apple Inc (AAPL)

A longstanding trademark dispute between Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Apple Corps LTD., the record label responsible for the distribution of the Beatles' music, could finally be over after Apple, Inc. says they've FINALLY reached an official agreement.

For those not familiar with the fruit fight, Apple, Inc (then Apple Computer, Inc.) reached an agreement for use of the Apple trademark, saying as long as the computer company stayed out of the music space Apple Corps LTD wouldn't pursue any further legal action. Um, then Apple, Inc. kind of ... entered the music space ... and released an MP3 player you might have heard of before ... the iPod. With both the iPod and iTunes music store heading out of the gates in 2001, Apple Corps LTD started the fight up again.

Lucky for Apple, especially with the recent shortening of the name to Apple, inc., everything is now resolved. Today's new agreement replaces the earlier 1991 agreement, but terms of the deal weren't released.

Tags: AAPL, apple, apple computer, apple inc, apple records, AppleRecords, beatles, ipod, the beatles