NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Apple Corps v. Apple Computer

Between 1978 and 2006 there have been a number of legal disputes between Apple Corps (owned by The Beatles) and the computer manufacturer Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) over competing trademark rights. In the latest dispute, the English High Court handed down a judgment on May 8, 2006 in favor of Apple Computer. The companies announced a final settlement of the dispute on February 5, 2007. Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool whose members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. ... Apple Inc. ... A trademark or trade mark[1] is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by an individual, business organization or other legal entity to uniquely identify the source of its products and/or services to consumers, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. ... Her Majestys High Court of Justice (usually known more simply as the High Court) is, together with the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of England and Wales: see Courts of England and Wales. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ...

History of trademark disputes

apple corps logo File links The following pages link to this file: Apple Records ... apple corps logo File links The following pages link to this file: Apple Records ... Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... Image File history File links Apple_Computer_Logo. ... Image File history File links Apple_Computer_Logo. ... Apple Inc. ...

1978 - 1981

In 1978, Apple Corps, the Beatles-founded holding company and owner of their record label, Apple Records, filed suit against Apple Computer for trademark infringement. The suit settled in 1981 with an undisclosed amount being paid to Apple Corps. This amount had been estimated to be $50–$200 million, but was later revealed to be $80,000.^[1] As a condition of the settlement, Apple Computer agreed not to enter the music business.^[2]^[3] 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... A holding company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors. ... Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a registered trademark without the authorisation of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the license). ...

1986 - 1989

In 1986, Apple Computer added MIDI and audio-recording capabilities to its computers, including the advanced 5503 sound chip from famous synthesizer maker Ensoniq into the Apple IIGS line. In 1989 this led Apple Corps to sue again, claiming violation of the 1981 settlement agreement^[2]. The outcome of this litigation effectively terminated any further development of the highly profitable Apple II line, all forays by Apple Computer into the multimedia field in parallel with the Amiga at the time, and any future advanced built-in musical hardware into the Macintosh line. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Note names and MIDI note numbers. ... Ensoniq Corp. ... The Apple IIGS, the fifth model inception of the Apple II, was the most powerful member of the Apple II series of personal computers made by Apple Computer. ... The 1977 Apple II, complete with integrated keyboard, color graphics, sound, a plastic case, and eight expansion slots. ... The original Amiga 1000 (1985) with various peripherals The Amiga is a family of home/personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation as an advanced home entertainment and productivity machine. ... The Macintosh 128K, the first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to a 512K Fat Mac The Macintosh, or Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple. ...

1991

In 1991, another settlement involving payment of around $26.5 million to Apple Corps was reached.^[4] This time, an Apple employee named Jim Reekes had included a sampled system sound called Chimes to the Macintosh operating system, but Apple's legal department objected citing the agreement with Apple Corps. Reekes renamed the sound to sosumi, which he asserted was Japanese and meant nothing musical, but in fact can be read phonetically as "so sue me". Outlined in the settlement was each company's respective trademark rights to the term "Apple". Apple Corps held the right to sue Apple on any "creative works whose principal content is music", while Apple Computer held the right to use Apple on "goods or services...used to reproduce, run, play or otherwise deliver such content", but not on content distributed on physical media.^[5] In other words, Apple Computer agreed that it would not package, sell or distribute physical music materials. This article lacks information on the importance of the subject matter. ... Sosumi is one of the system sounds introduced in Apple Computers Macintosh System 7 operating system in 1991, an extremely short sample of a xylophone, which gained notoriety in computer folklore as a cheeky response to a long-running Apple Corps v. ...

2003 - 2006

In September 2003, Apple Corps sued Apple Computer again, this time for breach of contract, in using the Apple logo in the creation and operation of Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store, which Apple Corps contended was a violation of the previous agreement. Some observers believed the wording of the previous settlement favored Apple Computer in this case.^[1] Other observers speculated that if Apple Corps was successful, Apple Computer would be forced to offer a much larger settlement, perhaps resulting in Apple Corps becoming a major shareholder in Apple Computer, or perhaps in Apple Computer splitting the iPod and related business into a separate entity.^[6] Breach of contract is a legal concept in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other partys performance. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into ITunes. ...

The trial opened on March 29, 2006 in England,^[7] before a single judge of the High Court, Mr Justice Mann. In opening arguments, a lawyer for Apple Corps stated that in 2003, shortly before the launch of Apple Computer's on-line music store, Apple Corps rejected a $1 million offer from Apple Computer to use the Apple name on the iTunes store. March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (89th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... A trial court or court of first instance is the court in which most civil or criminal cases begin. ... Her Majestys High Court of Justice (usually known more simply as the High Court) is, together with the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of England and Wales: see Courts of England and Wales. ...

On May 8, 2006 the court ruled in favor of Apple Computer,^[8] with Justice Mann holding that "I find no breach of the trademark agreement has been demonstrated^[9]."^[10] May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

In response, Neil Aspinall, manager of Apple Corps, indicated that the company did not accept the decision: "With great respect to the trial judge, we consider he has reached the wrong conclusion," and announced that it would "be filing an appeal and putting the case again to the Court of Appeal." The judgment orders Apple Corps to pay Apple Computer's legal costs at an estimated £2m, but pending the appeal the judge declined Apple Computer's request for an interim payment of £1.5m.^[11] Her Majestys Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords above it. ...

Despite the decision, plans have been announced by Neil Aspinall to completely remaster and release the entire Beatles catalogue on unspecified online music services, as well as to release some previously unheard work by the band. No firm date has been set for this as yet.^[12] Neil Aspinall (born in Prestatyn, North Wales, on 13 October 1942) is best known as the road manager and personal assistant for The Beatles. ...

2007

There was a hint that relations between the companies were improving at the January 2007 Macworld conference, when Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs featured Beatles content heavily in his keynote presentation and demonstration of the iPhone. Speculation abounds that the much anticipated music of the Beatles will finally be coming to the iTunes Store. Image File history File links WikiNews-Logo. ... Wikinews is a free-content news source and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. ... January is the first month of the year and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... MacWorld magazine (April 2004) Macworld is a monthly computer magazine dedicated to Macintosh products. ... Apple Inc. ... Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the job of having the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. ... Steven Paul Jobs (born February 24, 1955) is the co-founder and CEO of Apple and was the CEO of Pixar until its acquisition by Disney. ... A keynote in literature, music or public speaking is the principal underlying theme of a larger idea â€” a literary story, an individual musical piece or event. ... The correct title of this article is . ... â€œITMSâ€ redirects here. ...

On February 5, 2007, Apple Inc. and Apple Corps announced a settlement of their trademark dispute under which Apple Inc. will own all of the trademarks related to “Apple” and will license certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use. The settlement ends the ongoing trademark lawsuit between the companies, with each party bearing its own legal costs, and Apple Inc. will continue using its name and logos on iTunes. The settlement includes terms that are confidential. ^[13]

Commenting on the settlement, Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO said, “We love the Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks. It feels great to resolve this in a positive manner, and in a way that should remove the potential of further disagreements in the future.”

Commenting on the settlement on behalf of the shareholders of Apple Corps, Neil Aspinall, manager of Apple Corps said, “It is great to put this dispute behind us and move on. The years ahead are going to be very exciting times for us. We wish Apple Inc. every success and look forward to many years of peaceful co-operation with them.”

References

2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... BusinessWeek is a business magazine published by McGraw-Hill. ... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Low End Mac is a popular Mac news, editorials and information website updated many times weekly. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). ... {{Infobox_Company | company_name = CNET Networks| company_logo = | company_type = [[Publicly traded NASDAQ: CNET foundation = 1993| location = San Francisco, California, USA| key_people = Shelby W. Bonnie, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO| num_employees = 2,080 (2006)| industry = Internet Information Provider| homepage = [1] ==CNET Networks, Inc. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... LegalZoom is an online legal documentation service that was founded by Robert L. Shapiro, Brian P. Y. Liu, Brian S. Lee, and Edward R. Hartman. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... The current BBC News logo BBC News and Current Affairs is a major arm of the BBC responsible for the corporations newsgathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (89th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... Billboard can refer to: Billboard magazine Billboard (advertising) Billboard antenna In 3D computer graphics, to billboard is to rotate an object so that it faces the viewer. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... Zee News is an Indian Hindi News Channel run by Zee Network. ... Apple Inc. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... A news release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

References

Barry Miles (commonly known as, and called, simply Miles) is an author who has written biographies of Paul McCartney, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg as well as books about John Lennon, the Beatles and Frank Zappa. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... Many Years From Now, is the official biography of Sir Paul McCartney, by Barry Miles. ... Vintage Books was founded in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf as a trade paperback home for its authors. ... Random House is a publishing division of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann based in New York City. ...

See also

v • d • e

Apple Inc.

Corporate Directors: Bill Campbell • Millard Drexler • Al Gore • Steve Jobs • Arthur D. Levinson • Eric E. Schmidt • Jerry York
Computer Hardware Products: (List) • Macintosh • iMac • Mac mini • MacBook • MacBook Pro • Mac Pro • Xserve • Xserve RAID
Software Products: (List) • Aperture • Final Cut Studio • iLife • iWork • Logic Pro • Mac OS X • Mac OS X Server • QuickTime
Consumer Electronics and Accessories: AirPort • Apple Cinema Display• Apple TV • iPhone • iPod • iPod Hi-Fi
See also: History of Apple Inc. • List of discontinued products
Annual Revenue: US$19.32 billion ( 39% FY 2006) • Employees: 17,787 full-time; 2,399 temporary • Stock Symbol: NASDAQ: AAPL LSE: ACP • Website: www.apple.com
Image File history File links WikiNews-Logo. ... Wikinews is a free-content news source and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. ... From the 1980s to the present Apple Computer has been plaintiff or defendant in notable civil actions in the United States and other countries. ... A moron in a hurry is a phrase that appears to have been first used in the 1979 English legal case of Morning Star Cooperative Society v Express Newspapers Limited. ... In trademark law, confusing similarity is a test used during the examination process to determine whether a trademark conflicts with another, earlier mark, and also used in trademark infringement proceedings to determine whether the use of a mark infringes a registered trade mark. ... Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool whose members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. ... Neil Aspinall (born in Prestatyn, North Wales, on 13 October 1942) is best known as the road manager and personal assistant for The Beatles. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A onetime retail store, located on Baker Street in London, England, and one of the first business ventures made by the fledgling Apple Corps, a company founded by the Beatles. ... Apple Records logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple. ... This article is a discography for Apple Records, a record label founded in 1968 by The Beatles. ... Badfinger were a rock/pop band formed in Swansea, Wales in 1965, and one of the earliest representatives of the power pop genre. ... The Black Dyke Band, formerly the Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best known brass bands. ... Delaney & Bonnie and Friends was a group started by Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, which featured the elite session artists of the day, such as Carl Radle, Jim Price, Bobby Keys, Rita Coolidge, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon, Leon Russell, Dave Mason and revolving guest lead guitarists which would include Eric Clapton... The song God save Oz was first demoed by John Lennon in the early 70s and an ad hoc group named the Elastic Oz Band was formed to record it. ... Elephants Memory were a New York band most notable for backing up John Lennon and Yoko Ono during 1972, on a pair of albums and a handful of TV and live appearances. ... Grapefruit were a London-based British band of the late Sixties. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Mary Hopkin (born May 3, 1950) is a British singer. ... Hot chocolate with marshmallow For the musical band, see Hot Chocolate. ... John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (October 9, 1940 â€“ December 8, 1980), (born John Winston Lennon, known as John Ono Lennon) was an iconic English 20th century rock and roll songwriter and singer, best known as the founding member of The Beatles. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Sir James Paul McCartney MBE (born June 18, 1942) is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of the Beatles. ... The Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson (vibraphone), John Lewis (piano, musical director), Percy Heath (bass), and Kenny Clarke (drums). ... Yoko Ono Lennon (born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese musician and artist best known as the widow of John Lennon of The Beatles. ... David Peel is a New York City-based musician who first achieved prominence in the late 1960s. ... The Plastic Ono Band is the conceptual group John Lennon and Yoko Ono formed in 1969 before the dissolution of The Beatles. ... William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 â€“ June 6, 2006) was an American soul musician from Houston, Texas, raised mostly in Los Angeles, California. ... The Radha Krsna Temple was the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in London from the late 1960s. ... Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (Bengali: à¦°à¦¬à¦¿ à¦¶à¦™à§à¦•à¦° Robi ShÃ´ngkor, Hindi:à¤°à¤µà¤¿ à¤¶à¤‚à¤•à¤°) (born April 7, 1920 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India) is a Bengali-Indian composer best known for his virtuosity on the sitar. ... Ronnie Spector (born Veronica Yvette Bennett, 10 August 1943, in New York City) was the lead singer of the girl group The Ronettes, and is known as the original bad girl of rock and roll. From a very young age, she took to singing and her large, close family encouraged... Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940 in Liverpool),[1] known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer and actor, best known as the drummer of The Beatles. ... The Sundown Playboys The Sundown Playboys are a Cajun music band still active in Louisiana. ... Sir John Tavener (born 28 January 1944 in London) is an English composer. ... James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Belmont, Massachusetts. ... Doris Troy (January 6, 1937 - February 16, 2004) was an R&B singer, known to her many fans as Mama Soul. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Wings was a rock music band led by Paul McCartney and formed in August 1971, shortly after the breakup of The Beatles. ... Apple Inc. ... Corporate redirects here. ... In relation to a company, a director is an officer of the company charged with the conduct and management of its affairs. ... Bill Campbell Bill Campbell is the current Chairman of the Board and former CEO of Intuit Inc. ... Millard S. Drexler is a businessman, formerly CEO of Gap Inc, he joined the board of directors of Gap in November 1983 and left his position in October 2002. ... Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. ... Steven Paul Jobs (born February 24, 1955) is the co-founder and CEO of Apple and was the CEO of Pixar until its acquisition by Disney. ... Arthur D. Levinson (born March 31, 1950 in Seattle, Washington) is President and Chief Executive Officer of Genentech. ... Eric Emerson Schmidt, Ph. ... Jerry York is an American businessman, he was the former CFO of IBM and Chrysler. ... Apple Macintosh models grouped by CPU type. ... The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to a 512K Fat Mac. The Macintosh or Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... The correct title of this article is . ... The Mac mini is the smallest desktop computer marketed by Apple Inc. ... The MacBook is a line of Macintosh notebook computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc. ... The MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh notebook computers developed by Apple for the professional market. ... The Mac Pro is a Macintosh workstation manufactured by Apple Computer based on Intel Xeon microprocessors and a PCI Express architecture. ... A small Xserve cluster with an Xserve RAID. Xserve is the name of Apple Computers Macintosh 1U rackmount line of server computers. ... Xserve RAID is Apple Computers mass storage rack mounted device. ... // This list of Macintosh software reveals prominent Mac OS computer programs. ... Aperture is a software program for Mac OS X announced by Apple Computer on October 19th, 2005, designed to assist professional photographers in post-production work. ... Final Cut Studio is a video application suite for Mac OS X made by Apple Computer. ... iLife 06 Box iLife is a collection of software products created by Apple, designed for Mac OS X, used to create, organize, view and manipulate digital content. ... iWork is a suite of applications created by Apple Inc. ... Logic Pro is a MIDI sequencer and Digital Audio Workstation software application that runs on the Mac OS X platform. ... Mac OS X (official IPA pronunciation: ) is a line of proprietary, graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ... Mac OS X Server is the server-oriented version of Apples desktop operating system, Mac OS X. Mac OS X, in both desktop and server versions, is a Unix-like operating system based on technology that Apple acquired from NeXT Computer. ... QuickTime is a multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc. ... Dual 30 Apple Cinema HD Displays Previous-generation Apple Studio Display (the Cinema Display in an aspect ratio of 4:3 instead of 16:10) The Apple Cinema Display is a product line of flat panel monitors made by Apple Computer. ... Apple TV (styled tv) is a set-top box manufactured by Apple. ... The correct title of this article is . ... iPod (fifth generation) in Apple Universal Dock, iPod nano (second generation) and iPod shuffle (second generation) iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and launched in 2001. ... . The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions. ... This article is about the History of Apple Inc. ... The following is a list of Apple Inc. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory[1], the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A fiscal year (or financial year or accounting reference date) is a 12-month period used for calculating annual (yearly) financial reports in businesses and other organizations. ... NASDAQ in Times Square, New York City. ... The Source by Greyworld, in the new LSE building Paternoster Square. ...

Contents

History of trademark disputes GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

1978 - 1981

1986 - 1989

1991

2003 - 2006

2007

References

References

See also

History of trademark disputes