*A British High Court judge ruled yesterday that a trademark battle between Steve Jobs's Apple Computer Inc. and The Beatles record company Apple Corps Ltd. should be heard in the United Kingdom.
It was a victory for Apple Corps, which is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of deceased Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison. But a federal judge in California has also agreed to hear the case, holding that American law should apply. So the two companies will have to square off in court twice, with the possibility of different verdicts in each trial.
It's the latest in two decades of legal skirmishes of Apple vs. Apple. Five years after Jobs and partner Steve Wozniak launched the computer company in 1976, Apple Corps sued, claiming that Apple Computer's name and logo violate the record company's trademark. Settlements in 1991 and 1998 seemed to resolve the matter.
But the Beatles' record company now says that Apple Computer's popular iTunes Internet music retail business has gone too far. Apple Corps insists that the 1991 settlement included a pledge by Apple Computer to use the logo only for computer products and not for products related to music. Indeed, in 1998, Apple Computer, based in Cupertino, Calif., paid an out-of-court settlement to Apple Corps after the record company complained about an Apple music synthesizer product.
Still, Apple Corps says Apple Computer didn't learn its lesson. The recording company says that placing the Apple logo on the iTunes Music Store, an Internet-based music retailer, is another violation of the 1991 agreement.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/04/08/its_gonna_take_a_resolution/
It was a victory for Apple Corps, which is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of deceased Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison. But a federal judge in California has also agreed to hear the case, holding that American law should apply. So the two companies will have to square off in court twice, with the possibility of different verdicts in each trial.
It's the latest in two decades of legal skirmishes of Apple vs. Apple. Five years after Jobs and partner Steve Wozniak launched the computer company in 1976, Apple Corps sued, claiming that Apple Computer's name and logo violate the record company's trademark. Settlements in 1991 and 1998 seemed to resolve the matter.
But the Beatles' record company now says that Apple Computer's popular iTunes Internet music retail business has gone too far. Apple Corps insists that the 1991 settlement included a pledge by Apple Computer to use the logo only for computer products and not for products related to music. Indeed, in 1998, Apple Computer, based in Cupertino, Calif., paid an out-of-court settlement to Apple Corps after the record company complained about an Apple music synthesizer product.
Still, Apple Corps says Apple Computer didn't learn its lesson. The recording company says that placing the Apple logo on the iTunes Music Store, an Internet-based music retailer, is another violation of the 1991 agreement.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/04/08/its_gonna_take_a_resolution/
