The much-rumoured and long hoped-for Beatles iPod, in the form of a Yellow Submarine iPod – a yellow iPod with the entire Beatles catalog loaded on it – came one step closer to reality with Apple Records (properly known as Apple Corps LTD) and Apple Computer burying the hatchet and bringing to a close their long-standing feud over the Apple trademark.
Few realize that the battle between the Appley titans was over more than just the name on the label. In fact under the terms of a 15-year-old settlement agreement between Apple and Apple, the computer company was prohibited from acting in a way which made them seem like they might be a company offering recorded music, the greater to cause trademark confusion, my dear. In particular, Apple Computer was prohibited from using the Apple logo “on or in connection with physical media delivering prerecorded content.” As such, Apple Corps objected strenuously to iTunes, saying that it violated that clause of the agreement.
In May of 2006, a British judge held, regarding iTunes, that “It is true that physical things are involved — servers, communication equipment, wires and hard disks, to name but some — but they do not, in any form of ordinary parlance, amount to ‘physical media delivering prerecorded content.’ ”
While that may have been true of iTunes, the same could not be said of iPods pre-loaded with music.
And so, with today’s settling of the trademark lawsuit between Apple and Apple, the way is cleared for Apple to do exactly that. And the rumour is that they will start with the entire Beatles catalogue, on a submarine yellow Beatles iPod.
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Said Steve Jobs of the settlement, “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.”
Added Apple Corps Neil Aspinall, “It is great to put this dispute behind us and move on. The years ahead are going to be very exciting times for us. We wish Apple Inc. every success and look forward to many years of peaceful co-operation with them.”
I’m just looking forward to that Beatles-loaded iPod. Let’s hope that it is more than just a rumour.
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