Apple woes with copywrite infringement.
Have they no shame?
It looks like they are pretty well screwed here since they fired their lawyers.
macnewsworld.com
Apple Battle Faces Delay as Computer Firm Ditches Lawyer
By Malcolm Withers
10/05/04 3:53 PM PT
It is believed that Apple Computer decided to change legal teams after Linklaters raised the possibility of a settlement supposedly to be close to US$35.65 million, far higher than Apple Computer expected. The dispute centers on the computer company's use of the Apple name to promote the iTunes online music service and the iPod digital music player.
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Computer group Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has dropped law firm Linklaters from an ongoing legal battle with the Beatles' record label Apple Corp over the use of the Apple name to sell music-related products.
The latest installment in a long-running series of legal scraps between the two sides had been due to go back before the courts in London this autumn.
However, it now looks likely to be delayed as Apple Computers' new legal representative, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, gets to grips with its new case.
It is believed that Apple Computer decided to switch legal teams after Linklaters raised the possibility of a settlement said in legal circles to be close to US$35.65 million, far higher than Apple Computer's expectations.
The dispute centers on the computer group's use of the Apple name to promote his iTunes online music service and its iPod digital music player.
The Beatles founded the Apple music label and the Apple Corp business in 1968. The band first settled with the then-fledgling technology group in 1976, and agreed a deal with the computer company over its use of the Apple name and logo for computers, data processing and telecommunications in 1991.
The Beatles retained the rights over the name for music.
In the latest legal action, Apple Corp claims Apple Computer's chief executive, Steve Jobs, has breached the 1991 deal by using the Apple name and logo to promote its online music service.
The Beatles' company won a High Court battle in April this year to have the case heard in London rather than California.
There have been frequent suggestions in legal circles in recent weeks that Linklaters was advising its client on a $30.3 million settlement, one of the largest in legal history outside a class-action suit.
Legal sources now believe that Freshfields has been brought in to take a new look at the dispute.
Linklaters, Freshfields and Apple Computer all declined to comment |
