Apple wins logo dispute
Monday, 08 May 2006 12:28
Apple wins logo dispute
Apple Computer has won its multi-million pound trademark battle with the Beatles' record company, Apple Corps.
Following a ruling issued earlier today by a high court judge, Apple Computer will be able to continue running the popular iTunes website using its distinctive apple logo.
Apple Corps, still owned by former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr along with the widow of John Lennon and the estate of George Harrison, responded to today's judgment by announcing that they planned to appeal the decision.
Their attitude continues a bullish approach to legal conflicts which has sustained their dispute with Apple Computer for several decades, during which time they had won two previous rulings.
Apple Corps had argued that a deal made in 1991 allowing Apple to keep its logo as long as it did not enter the music industry was broken when the iTunes website was launched.
Apple Computer countered this argument by claiming that as iTunes was not a music publisher but a data transmission service, it had not breached the 1991 deal.
The judge, who during the course of the trial revealed that he owned an iPod, said that consumers were sufficiently intelligent to differentiate between the two products and that Apple Computer could continue using its trademark brand.
Apple Computer's victory means it can continue its leadership of the online music market, whose share of the overall industry is expected to double in Britain by 2010.
