Apple settles Beatles dispute

The New York Times reports that Apple and Apple Corps, the guardian of the Beatles’ music interests, announced that they had settled their dispute over the technology company’s name and its use of an apple logo. Under the new agreement, Apple now owns all the trademarks related to \'Apple\' and will license certain trademarks back to Apple Corps Ltd., the London company founded by the Beatles in the late 1960s. AustralianIT reports that Apple Corps had sued the computer company over the use of the apple logo on its iTunes Web site, but a British judge ruled in favour of the technology group last year. The judge said Apple had respected the 1991 agreement between the companies, which excluded Apple Inc from the music business. Apple Corps had said it planned to appeal. The settlement puts an end to the trademark dispute, with each side agreeing to pay its own legal costs. Full report in The New York Times Full AustralianIT report

And, Cisco and Apple have declared a temporary truce in the legal battle over the iPhone trademark, giving themselves until February 15 to resolve the matter outside of court. The Mercury notes that the Silicon Valley companies pushed back Apple\'s deadline for filing a response to the suit in US Federal Court in Northern California. Apple and Cisco have agreed to extend the time for Apple to respond to the lawsuit to allow for discussions between the companies with the aim of reaching agreement on trademark rights and interoperability. Cisco sued Apple in January after the maker of iPod MP3 players and Macintosh computers grandly launched an iPhone device with camera, digital music player, and mobile telephone capabilities. Full report in The Mercury