The year of 2007 was historical for Apple: a settlement between Apple Inc and Apple Corps ended the ongoing trademark lawsuit between the two. Now, in 2012 Apple Inc has reached another important milestone: the famed Apple Corps logo is now the property of Apple Inc.
On October 24, 2012 the Canadian IP Office made public that the apple logo previously seen on Beatles records, is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.
Apple Corps Ltd is a multimedia corporation founded in London back in January 1968, when The Beatles’ accountants informed the renowned musicians that they had about 2 million pounds they could either invest in a business venture or to lose to the Inland Revenue. The informal discussion resulted in the now multi-armed corporation, and they chose an apple as their logo.
Apple Inc and Apple Corps had carried on a long trademark lawsuit, and this included the Apple logo as well, which ended with the 2007 settlement. Both parties agreed to support their own legal costs and that Apple Inc could continue to use its name and logos in iTunes.
As a side comment on the settlement reached in 2007 Steve Jobs added as cited by Patently Apple:
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.
Now, as Patently Apple reports, there was an unsuccessful opponent to Apple, a company named Apple Box Productions Sub Inc. However, Apple got the registered trademark on October 24, as the Canadian IP Office database shows.
István Fekete
Technology enthusiast, rocker, biker and writer of iPhoneinCanada.ca. Follow me on Twitter or contact me via email: istvan@iphoneincanada.ca