Last August, Apple became the first company in U.S. history to reach a stock market value of $1 trillion.
Not to be confused with Apple Corps, the creation of which John Lennon and Paul McCartney announced in May 1968 and which featured divisions including Apple Records, Apple Films, Apple Electronics, Apple Publishing, and Apple Retail.
It was nearly 10 years later when Steve Jobs came up with a name for the computer company he formed with business partner, Steve Wozniak: Apple Computer. This was not an homage to the Beatles. Jobs came up with the name after spending time in a hippie commune at an apple orchard. He thought the name was “fun, spirited, and not intimidating.”
Wozniak warned about the possibility of butting heads with Apple Records. It was a prescient concern. Between 1978 and 2003, Apple Corps sued Apple Computer no fewer than four times for trademark infringement, culminating in a 2006 lawsuit that found Apple Computer did not violate the Apple Corps trademark.
Thankfully for all involved, the two companies worked out an agreement in 2007 that brought the legal issues to a halt. And now, 50 years after the formation of Apple Corps, 50 million Apple Music subscribers have access to the Beatles music catalog.
