A settlement between Apple and the two stores was expected: After a mid-August settlement conference, attorneys for all parties said that they had reached an agreement.

Apple Story may have come to the attention of Apple because of the efforts of a blogger known as "BirdAbroad," who in July revealed a copycat store in Kunming, China that went to great lengths to duplicate Apple retail stores' look and feel.

After soliciting more photos from readers, on July 23 BirdAbroad posted images of several other Apple look-alikes, including one in Flushing, Queens marked with a sign that read

Chinese authorities in Kunming, but allowed others that used Apple's logo without the company's permission to remain open.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at , on or subscribe to . His e-mail address is .