On 8 May 2006 the court ruled in favour of Apple Computer,[10] with Mr Justice Mann holding that "no breach of the trademark agreement [had] been demonstrated".
In response, Neil Aspinall, manager of Apple Corps, indicated that the company did not accept the decision: "With great respect to the trial judge, we consider he has reached the wrong conclusion.
There was a hint that relations between the companies were improving at the January 2007 Macworld conference, when Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs featured Beatles content heavily in his keynote presentation and demonstration of the iPhone.
During that year's All Things Digital conference, Jobs quoted the Beatles song "Two of Us" in reference to his relationship with co-panelist Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
The settlement ends the ongoing trademark lawsuit between the companies, with each party bearing its own legal costs, and Apple Inc. will continue using its name and logos on iTunes.
[14] Commenting on the settlement, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs said, "We love the Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks.
Reports in April 2007 that Apple Corps had settled another long-running dispute with EMI (and that Neil Aspinall had retired and been replaced by Jeff Jones) further fueled media speculation that The Beatles' catalogue would appear on iTunes.
[15] Ahead of the June 2007 release of Paul McCartney's solo album, Memory Almost Full, Apple aired an ad for his single "Dance Tonight", promoting their iPods.
McCartney was quoted in Rolling Stone as saying that their catalogue would be released through digital music stores such as iTunes in the first quarter of 2008,[16][17] but this did not happen until 2010.