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Mar 29, 2006, 07:22 PM
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Beatles' Apple takes Apple Computer to court
(Reuters, Thursday March 30, 10:02 AM)
LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - The Beatles' record label Apple Corps. Ltd and Apple Computer Inc. went to the High Court again in London Wednesday in their ongoing dispute over the use of their names and trademark logos.
The record company is suing the computer firm for allegedly violating a 1991 agreement that would keep the creator of iTunes and the iPod from entering the music business.
Apple Corps. claims that Apple Computer's use of its trademark in advertising and software for the iTunes Music Store violates the agreement. The iTunes Music Store, integrated with the popular iPod digital music player, has sold more than 1 billion songs.
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Apple Corps. is seeking a judgment of liability and an injunction against Apple Computer; if it succeeds a subsequent hearing will assess damages.
"Apple Computer can go into the recorded music business in any way they want. What they cannot do is use Apple (trade)marks to do it," Apple Corps. counsel Geoffrey Vos said in his opening presentation.
He noted that the Apple Computer logo is displayed when users buy songs from the iTunes Music Store, and he showed the courtroom an Apple Computer advertisement with the band Coldplay that prominently featured the logo.
Apple Computer counsel Anthony Grabiner was due to give his opening presentation later on Wednesday.
Judge Edward Mann, who is presiding over the case in London's High Court, is a self-professed iPod user. "I have a certain familiarity with the technology," he said.
The pop group's company, owned by surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the widow of John Lennon and the estate of George Harrison, was founded in 1968 with a logo of a Granny Smith apple. Apple Computer was formed in California in 1977 with a logo of a Macintosh apple with a clean bite removed.
Legend has it that the computer firm took the name in order to be ahead of rival Atari in the phone book but the Beatles challenged its use and an agreement was reached in 1981.
As the American company moved into the burgeoning digital music world, the pop group's firm took action in 1989 and they all ended up spending two years in London's High Court.
Terms of the 1991 agreement were not disclosed but reportedly there was a $30 million payment by Apple Computer. The Beatles have never allowed their catalog to be available on the Internet.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Beatles' Apple takes Apple Computer to court
(Reuters, Thursday March 30, 10:02 AM)
LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - The Beatles' record label Apple Corps. Ltd and Apple Computer Inc. went to the High Court again in London Wednesday in their ongoing dispute over the use of their names and trademark logos.
The record company is suing the computer firm for allegedly violating a 1991 agreement that would keep the creator of iTunes and the iPod from entering the music business.
Apple Corps. claims that Apple Computer's use of its trademark in advertising and software for the iTunes Music Store violates the agreement. The iTunes Music Store, integrated with the popular iPod digital music player, has sold more than 1 billion songs.
ADVERTISEMENT
Apple Corps. is seeking a judgment of liability and an injunction against Apple Computer; if it succeeds a subsequent hearing will assess damages.
"Apple Computer can go into the recorded music business in any way they want. What they cannot do is use Apple (trade)marks to do it," Apple Corps. counsel Geoffrey Vos said in his opening presentation.
He noted that the Apple Computer logo is displayed when users buy songs from the iTunes Music Store, and he showed the courtroom an Apple Computer advertisement with the band Coldplay that prominently featured the logo.
Apple Computer counsel Anthony Grabiner was due to give his opening presentation later on Wednesday.
Judge Edward Mann, who is presiding over the case in London's High Court, is a self-professed iPod user. "I have a certain familiarity with the technology," he said.
The pop group's company, owned by surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the widow of John Lennon and the estate of George Harrison, was founded in 1968 with a logo of a Granny Smith apple. Apple Computer was formed in California in 1977 with a logo of a Macintosh apple with a clean bite removed.
Legend has it that the computer firm took the name in order to be ahead of rival Atari in the phone book but the Beatles challenged its use and an agreement was reached in 1981.
As the American company moved into the burgeoning digital music world, the pop group's firm took action in 1989 and they all ended up spending two years in London's High Court.
Terms of the 1991 agreement were not disclosed but reportedly there was a $30 million payment by Apple Computer. The Beatles have never allowed their catalog to be available on the Internet.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter