Apple vs Apple in court

Two legendary companies in the music industry are to meet in a London courtroom today to fight it out over what might be the world`s most recognisable logo: a simple piece of fruit, reports ABC News.

Apple, the Beatles` record company and guardian of the band`s musical heritage and business interests, is suing Apple Computer, claiming the company violated a 1991 agreement by entering the music business with its iTunes online music store.

At issue is a 1991 pact that ended a long-running trademark fight between the two Apples, in which each agreed not to tread on the other`s toes by entering into a "field of use" agreement over the trademark.

Racketeering charges have been filed against founders of Skype and developers of Kazaa by StreamCast Networks, maker of the Morpheus file-swapping software, reports TMC Net.

StreamCast is seeking US$4.1 billion in damages as well as the profits from the $2.6 billion sale of Skype to eBay.

Alleging that the defendants committed numerous violations of the Racketeer Influences and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, StreamCast also claims that it owns the software used by the peer-to-peer Internet phone service.

Avadis "Avie" Tevanian, former head of Apple Computer`s software business, is leaving after nearly a decade to pursue other interests, reports ABC News. Tevanian has been chief technology officer since 2003.

Tevanian spearheaded the development of the Mac OS X operating system, which debuted in 2001. It has undergone numerous revisions, but is still Apple`s only operating system.