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Apple Wins Trademark Battle Against Beatles Record Company
On May 8, 2006, England’s High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, released a judgment regarding an on-again-off-again legal dispute between Apple Corps, the Beatles’ record label, and the technology company Apple Computer, owners of the iTunes Music Store. Since 1978, the parties have been involved in various disputes surrounding their respective rights to the use of the word mark “Apple” and various stylized logos.
The High Court’s decision related to a breach of contract suit brought by Apple Corps against Apple Computer regarding their 1991 trademark agreement. The agreement provided that Apple Corps held the right to use “Apple” and its stylized logo on any "creative works whose principal content is music", while Apple Computer held the right to use “Apple” and its stylized logo on "goods or services ... used to reproduce, run, play or otherwise deliver such content" as well as “data transmission services”, but could not use its mark “on or in connection with physical media”, effectively disentitling Apple Computer from using its marks to package, sell or distribute physical music materials.
Apple Corps contended that Apple Computer’s use of its marks with its iTunes Music Store (along with Apple Computer’s advertisements for the iTunes Music Store) was a breach of their agreement since users would think that Apple Computer was in some way a record company as opposed to an online retailer. The High Court disagreed, and held that in the eyes of a reasonable and sensible user, which the court defined as one who would be familiar with the notion of buying recordings of creative works from a retailer and would be capable of not seeing any other association between the retailer and the music other than that arising out of the sale itself, there would not be a connection between Apple Computer’s marks with the music as a creative work.
Despite the fact that the High Court found Apple Computer not to be in breach of the agreement on alternative grounds (either because iTunes Music Store was within Apple Computer’s explicit privileges of providing a “data transmission service” or Apple Computer’s use fit with a reconciliation provision of the agreement), Apple Corps has stated that it will appeal the decision.
For a copy of the decision, visit: