Advertisement

Apple now owns the trademark to The Beatles' Apple Corps Logo

Apple and The Beatles have had a contentious relationship for years. The Beatles Apple Corps company felt Apple's logo -- and the company's eventual foray into digital music -- infringed on their trademark Apple Corps logo. Then in 2007, Apple, Inc. and Apple Corps Ltd. finally settled trademark dispute. That settlement gave Apple, Inc. ownership of "all of the trademarks related to 'Apple' and will license certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use."

But in 2011, Apple went further to secure its right to the trademark, actually filing for it to secure ownership over it. Yesterday, that ownership was granted.

As discovered by Patently Apple, the Cupertino company was granted the registered trademark of the famous logo on October 24, 2012. So what does this mean for Apple? Theoretically, it could use the Apple Corps logo for any purpose. But that probably won't happen. This is more just a housekeeping matter with the company tying up any loose ends to a decades-long trademark dispute.