The Beatles created Apple Corps in 1968, but in 1976 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer Company. They chose the name Apple, despite concerns about lawsuits from the Beatles, because they couldn’t think of anything better. Legal battles over trademarks followed until a settlement in 2006.
In 1968, the Beatles created Apple Corps Ltd., whose subsidiaries included Apple Records and Apple Films. In 1976, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs arrived with a completely different Apple. These electronics visionaries created the Apple Computer Company out of Jobs’ parents’ California home. Their first product was the Apple I computer, which was a circuit board sold to computer enthusiasts (who had to supply their own keyboard, monitor, and case) for $666.66.
When Jobs suggested the name Apple for their new company, he had recently returned from the commune of All One Farm in Oregon, where he had spent time in the farm’s apple orchard. While Wozniak was concerned that the name could lead to lawsuits from the Beatles, they couldn’t think of anything better. Then they hit enter and the rest is history.
Taking a bite out of Apple:
Jobs and Woz were looking for a company name that was less official than the industry leaders of the time, such as IBM and Cincom. They briefly considered the names “Executex” and “Matrix Electronics”.
Jobs really liked the name Apple. “Partly because I really like apples,” he said at the time, “and partly because Apple is ahead of Atari in the phonebook and I used to work at Atari.”
Between 1978 and 2006, there were several legal fights between Apple Corps and Apple Computer (later known as Apple, Inc.) over trademarks. The High Court of Justice in London ruled in favor of Apple Computer in 2006 and a settlement ensued.
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