Apple Computer wins court battle with Beatles

LONDON - Apple Computer has won its trademark dispute with the Beatles, part of a long and winding road of legal battles which may lead the band's famous songs to the door of Apple's market-leading iTunes Music Store.

In the case, Apple Corps - which represents the band's interests and has a green Granny Smith trademark - had argued that the Apple Computer had violated the companies' former trademark settlement by using its logo to sell music.

Apple Computer, which has sold millions of iPods and more than a billion song downloads, held that iTunes was primarily a data transmission service and was permitted by the agreement.

"I find no breach of the trademark agreement has been demonstrated," Justice Edward Mann said in his judgement, issued in London's High Court. "The action therefore fails."

Apple Corps had battled Apple Computer over its own stylised fruit logo twice before and the latest case related to an out-of-court settlement in 1991.

The ruling, which Apple Corps said it will appeal, means that Apple Computer will be able to continue using its fruit logo on the iTunes Music Store and in ads for the service.

The Beatles are high-profile holdouts from internet music services such as iTunes, but it emerged during the trial that Apple Corps is preparing the band's catalogue to be sold online for the first time, according to a submission by Neil Aspinall, managing director of Apple Corps and a former Beatles road manager.

"We are glad to put this disagreement behind us," Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said. "We have always loved the Beatles, and hopefully we can now work together to get them on the iTunes Music Store."

A spokeswoman for Apple Corps said that no decision had been made on when the Beatles' songs would be available to purchase online.

Apple Corps -- owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison -- agreed to a 1991 out-of-court settlement, which included a $26 million (14 million-pound) payment by Apple Computer and set out areas in which each party would have exclusive use of their respective logos.

The Beatles' company argued that Apple Computer's move into the music business violated that deal, but Justice Mann ruled that no breaches had occurred.

"I think the use of the apple logo is a fair and reasonable use of the mark in connection with the service," Mann said, referring to the Apple Computer logo within the iTunes Music Store.

The trial in the High Court's usually staid courtrooms was marked by the incongruous playing of the disco hit "Le Freak" by the Apple Corps legal team, who were demonstrating the iTunes software for the judge.

- REUTERS