Beatles lose trademark battle with Apple

The Beatles were invited to join the iPod generation today after losing their trademark battle with the company that shares the apple logo.

Apple Corps, the company owned by Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of George Harrison and John Lennon, wanted multimillion-pound damages from Apple Computer over the use of the apple logo on its revolutionary online iTunes Music Store.

But Mr Justice Mann ruled at the High Court in London that Apple Computer had not breached a trade mark agreement with Apple Corps.

Steve Jobs, head of the US giant, said: “We are glad to put this disagreement behind us.

“We have always loved the Beatles, and hopefully we can now work together to get them on the iTunes Music Store.”

It was the latest round of a battle over logos between the two companies dating back to the early 1980s.

The 1991 trade mark agreement gave Apple Corps exclusive rights to use “apple” marks for the record business.

All worked well until the advent of the iPod, which can be used to download and save thousands of pre-recorded tracks via the internet.

Geoffrey Vos QC, representing Apple Corps, told a High Court hearing in March that Apple Computer had given the public access to 3.7 million tracks available worldwide and there had been one billion downloads through the Music Store website.

Apple Corps had wanted court orders to stop Apple Computer using the “apple” marks in connection with the iTunes Music Store and damages after an investigation into Apple Computer’s profits.

Instead they were left with a multimillion-pound legal bill.

Neil Aspinall, manager of Apple Corps, said after the ruling was announced: “With great respect to the trial judge, we consider he has reached the wrong conclusion.

“We felt that during the course of the trial we clearly demonstrated just how extensively Apple Computer had broken the agreement.

“We will accordingly be filing an appeal and putting the case again to the Court of Appeal.”

The judge granted Apple Corps permission to appeal in a case which has already cost a total of more than £3m (€4.4m) in legal bills for which the Beatles company is liable.

Mr Justice Mann said the 1991 trade mark agreement (TMA), under which Computer paid Corps $26m (€20.5m), shifted the boundaries between the exclusive fields of use so that Computer was entitled to a wider range.

But the judge said that Corps retained “musical content” as its exclusive preserve.

Computer introduced the iPod in October 2001 and in April 2003 announced it was going to launch the iTunes Music Store (ITMS).

This was introduced to provide a commercial source for downloaded software at a time when a large amount of pop music was available on the internet for illicit downloading.

Tracks by The Beatles are not available on iTunes.

The judge said ITMS was “a form of electronic shop” and proved to be “enormously successful”.

The main objection by Corps was the use of the apple logo while the Store is on screen and being accessed.

Computer argued that although it did use the logo, the Store and downloaded track made clear that Computer did not own any of the rights to the music.

Mr Justice Mann said in his ruling: “I conclude that the use of the Apple logo in the notional LCD display (of ITMS) does not suggest a relevant connection with the creative work.”

He also dismissed Corps’ action over use of the logo on Computer advertisements connected with iTunes, the music store and the iPod.