Tuesday, July 20, 2004, 03:40 pm

Apple settles Rendezvous trademark dispute

By Kasper Jade

Exclusive - Apple Computer, Inc. and Tibco Software have settled a trademark dispute through a mutual out of court settlement, AppleInsider has learned.

Last year, Tibco of Palo Alto, Calif., alleged that Apple's Rendezvous networking software, used in Apple products such as the Mac OS and iTunes Music Store, infringed on its Rendezvous name.

Tibco's Rendezvous software allows applications to share data across networks, but came to market prior to Apple's similar Rendezvous technology.

In a suit filed in the District Court for the Northern District of California, Tibco said that it has been using the Rendezvous trademark since 1994 and was seeking unspecified damages for competitive and economic harm caused by Apple.

Earlier today, Tibco representatives confirmed that the two companies had come to an out of court agreement, but were not at liberty to discuss the terms of the pact. An official request for dismissal was reportedly filed by Tibco earlier this month.

Sources close to the negotiations say that, as part of the deal, Apple has agreed to phase out its use of the "Rendezvous" name.

No official statement has been made by the computer company, but a new message on its Rendezvous licensing site says, "Apple is not currently adding new Rendezvous brand licensees, check back soon for a program update."

It's unclear if Tibco will receive monetary restitution from Apple as part of the settlement and representatives from Apple declined to comment on the report.

Meanwhile, London intellectual property licensing company BTG International Inc. announced today that it has sued Apple Computer Inc. and Microsoft Corp. alleging infringement of software technology patents.

The suit against Apple and Microsoft alleges infringement on Teleshuttle patents covering Web-enabled software update technologies, which are important in helping protect computer users from viruses and other Internet attacks.