Apple and the Beatles had a long running dispute going over the use of their respective produce-related trademarks. Everything was resolved in 2007 when Apple took ownership of all “Apple” related trademarks, and agreed to license them back to Apple Corps. for their continued use. Today, the last bite is taken out of the legal apple as the Canadian IP office has announced that the Beatles’ iconic Granny Smith apple is now an Apple, Inc. registered trademark.
Apple obtained the trademark after winning an attempt to block the transfer by a company named Apple Box Productions Sub Inc. The registered trademark was transferred to the iPhone maker this week.The logo for Apple Corps Ltd. is a Granny Smith green apple that, unlike Apple’s silhouette logo, does not have a bite taken out of the fruit. Transfer of the trademark was first discovered on Thursday by Patently Apple.
Apple Records is the chief division of Apple Corps. which was founded in 1968 by the then members of the Beatles.
Apple applied for ownership of the Granny Smith logo in March 1011. The transfer was part of the 2007 legal settlement between Apple, Inc. and Apple Corps. which resolved a long-standing battle over ownership of the “Apple” trademark.
The settlement granted Apple, Inc. all related trademarks, but required it to license certain trademarks back to Apple Corps. Ownership of the Granny Smith trademark is now extended to “computer hardware, online social networking services, mobile phones,” and other categories.
The resolution of the legal battle is believed to have paved the way for The Beatles’ Catalog to finally arrive on Apple’s iTunes Music Store, even though it took more than three years to finally appear, in November of 2010. First week sales totaled 450,000 albums and 2 million songs.
