Apple vs Apple Beatles recording company Apple Corporation has failed to persuade the English High Court that Apple Computer's iTunes Music Service is a violation of a 1991 deal struck by the two companies to define their respective business domains.
This morning, Mr Justice Anthony Mann ruled that the apple logo governed by the agreement had been applied to ITMS and not to the music sold through the online store. As such, Apple Comp. had not breached the terms of the deal.
He denied Apple's Corp.'s request for an injunction blocking the operation of ITMS.
The two Apples came to court in March. During the hearing, Apple Corp. advocate Geoffrey Vos QC admitted the fight was about logos, not music per se: "Apple Computer can go into the recorded music business in any way they want," he said. "What they cannot do is use Apple [trade]marks to do it."
Speaking for Apple Comp., Anthony Grabiner QC said his client had demonstrated ITMS to Apple Corp. officials months before the online store was launched to the public. Apple Corp. had not complained at the time, he said.
Apple Comp. argued that it uses its logo in conjunction with the service not with the content, a line of reasoning with which Mr Justice Mann clearly concurs. Grabiner demoed the service in court to demonstrate that claim.
Apple Corp.'s response to the ruling is not yet known, but it remains open to the company to appeal against the verdict. ®
The Beatles' label Apple Corps lost its court case against Apple Computer today in the High Court. Apple Corps argued that the iTunes Music Store was a breach of the 1991 settlement reached between the two parties. The 1991 agreement was that Apple Computer would not sell music branded with an apple. Mr Justice Anthony Mann agreed with Apple Computer's defence that, while the iTunes Music Store is branded, the music it sells is not - "I conclude that the use of the Apple logo ... does not suggest a relevant connection with the creative work." During the case Apple Corps showed the court just how many times the Apple Computer logo appeared during a typical download. The song purchased during the demonstration was Le Freak by Chic.

After the case closed Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs extended an invitation to the record label, "we have always loved the Beatles, and hopefully we can now work together to get them on the iTunes Music Store". Apple Corps have decided to take the case to the Court of Appeal. Speaking for Apple Corps, manager Neil Aspinall said, "with great respect to the trial judge, we consider he has reached the wrong conclusion."