AppleInsider Staff
The pair of trademark applications filed with the European Trademarks Office was discovered by Patently Apple on Monday.
The transfer comes as a result of a 2007 legal settlement between Apple and The Beatles' parent company Apple Corps. The settlement resolved a long-standing dispute over ownership of the "Apple" trademark by granting Apple all related trademarks, though the company is required to license certain trademarks back to Apple Corps.
As such, Apple's recent filings for the Granny Smith trademark appear to be merely a matter of tying up loose ends. In the two applications, Apple has requested that the trademark for the former Apple Corps logo extend coverage to "computer hardware, online social networking services, mobile phones," as well as including broader categories such as musical instruments, games, clothing, advertising, education and broadcasting.
The resolution of the legal dispute between Apple and Apple Corps paved the way for the arrival of The Beatles' catalog on Apple's iTunes Music Store, though it took more than three years to happen. iTunes began carrying the band's music in November of last year, with first week sales reaching 450,000 albums and 2 million songs.
According to a report earlier this year, the royalty split for The Beatles "could be more lucrative" than for other artists. Sources claim that the unique licensing deal between Apple and Apple Corps allows Apple to directly pay royalties to The Beatles and Sony/ATV instead of treating digital download sales as a retail sale and paying royalties to record label EMI.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
26 Comments
i sense the bubble going to burst for "APPLE"
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OK. It's official. Apple's now bigger than the Beatles.
The Beatles are all, but dead. Apple is far from dead.
Apple. We own it. Like literally... all images of any kind of applesque fruit shape, form, function or idea.
"We thought really long and hard about it. But we decided anyone that eats an actual apple needs to buy it for 99 cents from their local iTunes Store. In many parts of the world, that's a bargain! And don't forget, the farmer (usually Wallmart) gets to keep 70% of the sales..."
That looks better than their iconic logo? I'd go back to the rainbow apple before I'd use a photorealistic one.