Apple bought partial rights to use "lightning" trademark from Harley-Davidson

Apple's EU trademark application for "lightning" revealed a past history

No, Apple is not planning on manufacturing an iHog as far as we know. But based on information discovered from the EU Patent & Trademark Office, Apple had to pay legendary U.S. motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson for the right to use the lightning name for its new connector. The whole thing was discovered when the EU Patent and Trademark Office released a copy of Apple's EU application for the lightningtrademark which revealed that Harley-Davidson had owned the trademark before Apple.

Harley-Davidson had filed to use the lightning name on motorcycle parts, protective gear including helmets, turn signals, television sets, and even eyeglasses. Apple's application shows a partial transfer of the trademark was made on Thanksgiving leading us to assume that Harley-Davidson still has the right to use the name on some of its motorcycle gear, while Apple can use it for its dock connector and for other technology products.

For the Rip Van Winkles out there, the lightning dock connector was released by Apple this year, starting with the Apple iPhone 5, and replaces the old 30 pin connector. Apple does sell an adapter to convert from 30 pins to the 8 used with lightning, and there is also an Apple-sold adapter that goes from lighting to USB.