Apple Inc., the maker of Macintosh computers and the popular iPod series has finally settled its trademark dispute with The Beatles label Apple Corps Ltd. over the use of the Apple logo and name.  The settlement gives Apple Inc. ownership over the Apple name and logo in return for them to license out the trademark to Apple Corps for them to continue using it.  Each side has agreed to pay its own legal costs, although it is unclear if either had to pay any settlements to the other.  However, a senior research analyst estimates Apple Inc. paid The Beatles $50 million to $100 million for the rights of the Apple name and logo. 

So far, The Beatles has not made any of its music available yet via iTunes or any other online music service, although industry analysts predict that there may already be plans to make The Beatles' music available online.  Steve Jobs is a huge Beatles fan, long wanting to have its music made available on iTunes and has even made use of The Beatles Music and album art when Apple unveiled the iPhone at the Macworld Conference.

This has been the third trademark lawsuit so far between the two.  The first lawsuit was in 1979 over trademark infringement, where Apple Inc. agreed to settle with Apple Corps in 1981 for $80,000 agreeing to never enter the music business.  All went well until Apple Inc. got into trouble over its Apple Macintosh's MIDI interface, so in 1991, Apple Inc. paid $26.5 million for rights to the Apple logo for selling computers and software and for Apple Corps to use the logo for producing and selling music.  In 2003, not only was Apple selling already its iPod series, they also started an online music store, which breached the 1991 settlement.   Last May, a British judge ruled that it was permitted to use of the Apple's logo in association with its iTunes store and not the music.