Luxury watchmaker Cartier has agreed to drop a lawsuit against Apple over two iPhone applications that allegedly infringed the trademark of its Tank brand.

The withdrawal of the legal threat follows the removal of the two applications from Apple's App Store. Cartier filed the short-lived lawsuit last Friday, with the withdrawal of the applications following just hours later. Apple acted quickly to resolve the dispute, either in the belief that the two apps weren't worth fighting for, or that Cartier's case was too strong to resist.

Jonathan Lagarenne, a lawyer representing Cartier, told the Wall Street Journal that its concerns had been addressed.

The case is not the first time Apple has removed an application from its store following complaints. For example, an iPhone app where users had to silence the animated representation of a crying baby by shaking the phone was pulled following a complaint from a child welfare charity. Apple apologised for publishing the application in the first place. ®

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