Beatles fight Apple
Link: Beatles fight Apple
The Beatles Apple Corps record company is taking Apple Computers to court.
The row is over the use of “Apple” as a trademark for the music business.
Both companies have been in conflict before, and the current action is over a claim of breach of argument made in the High Court in London in 1991.
Apple dispute timescale:
-
1968: Apple Corps founded by the Beatles
1976: Apple Computers founded
1981: Both companies agree to share the Apple trademark.
1989: Apple Computers seeks a court order to seek a less restrictive trademark agreement
1991: Agreement reached - details not disclosed
2001: Apple Computers releases the iPod
2003: Apple Computers releases iTunes
2004: The Beatles Apple Corps claims the 1991 agreement has been breached
2006: Proceedings to begin at Londons High Court to decide the issue.
It has been remarked that the 1991 agreement lacked necessary detail to apply to the modern digital age.
This could mean the court case could again take years to reach any conclusion, with both companies bound to contest their case strongly.
[…] Previously they contested a trademark dispute with the Beatles’ Apple Records label - and the ensuing court case, heard in the UK, ruled in favour of Apple being able to use the name because of the clear disparity in products would not cause confusion. […]
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