Originally posted by: Jzero
Originally posted by: Ornery
Who said anything about,
doing the "right" thing and honoring their "word" ?
This is the
law,">http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmlaw2.html">law</a>,</a> and they broke it. They shouldn't be permitted to weasle out of it any more than you or I would be able to.
No law was proven to be broken in any court. No criminal charges have been filed against Apple Computer for this. The lawsuits filed were civil suits, and it is worth mentioning that it doesn't seem that there has ever been a judicial verdict on the matter, just an out-of-court settlement resulting in the agreement about which this dispute revolves.
That original agreement was nothing more than Applecorps using the legal system to extort money from Apple Computer. I don't believe for a second that a competent judge would have considered Apple Computer to be confusingly similar to Applecorps. But Applecorps knew it would never go to court - the legality is irrelevant. They just wanted to make a buck off of Apple Computer and they were successful.
Fast forward 20 years. The original settlement money has been squandered away. Applecorps needs another golden egg. This oughtta be a slam dunk for them.
So they once again file a civil suit, this time because Apple Comp. allegedly broke the original agreement (this time they need not mention trademark law at all).
Maybe they shouldn't be able to weasle their way out of their agreement, but no law was broken. Not now, not then.
My point is that I don't think Applecorps should be able to use the legal system to extort money from Apple Computer just because they know they're good for it, which is what this has always been all about.