Last night, Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computers was close to reaching a settlement with the lawyers of George Harrison, widows of John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr over Apple's iTunes music store. In 1968, Apple Corps was formed to publish the Beatles music and sign other musicians. In 1980, Steve Jobs was advertising his new computer invention, the Apple. Harrison found this advertisement in a computer magazine, and it appeared to infringe the bands trademark.
Apple Corps told Apple to change its name to something else if it wished to continue producing music making machines. In 1991 a settlement of $26.5 million was reached but this time around it has been hinted that the figure may be much higher. "People are expecting this to be the biggest settlement anywhere in legal history, outside of a class action suit," said a lawyer. "The numbers could be mindboggling."
When the iTunes music store opened for business in the United States, a new lawsuit started with Mr Justice Mann, the High Court judge. Strangely enough, the judge remarked that he owns an iPod. Apple Corps are claiming that the hardware manufacturer is in breach of an agreement, which would forbid them from using the trademark for any application whose principal content is music, e.g. iTunes.
Source:
Telegraph
When the iTunes music store opened for business in the United States, a new lawsuit started with Mr Justice Mann, the High Court judge. Strangely enough, the judge remarked that he owns an iPod. Apple Corps are claiming that the hardware manufacturer is in breach of an agreement, which would forbid them from using the trademark for any application whose principal content is music, e.g. iTunes.
Source:
Telegraph
