Apple Computer Inc. is profiting from the Beatles’ trademark by using the iTunes music store to promote its brand alongside acts such as U2 and Coldplay, a lawyer representing the 1960s rock band told a London court.
Apple Corps Ltd., which represents the Beatles’ business interests, is suing Apple Computer for allegedly breaching a 1991 agreement barring the manufacturer from using the Apple name or logo to sell music. Apple Computer has sold more than 1 billion songs through iTunes for its best-selling iPod music player.
The launch of iTunes marked a “radical change” for Apple Computer, moving the company from hardware and software to the music business, Geoffrey Vos, a lawyer for Apple Corps, told the High Court in London today in his opening arguments.
“The sale of the music itself is the rationale and the raison d’etre of the iTunes music store,” Vos said.
London-based Apple Corps, which is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, is seeking unspecified damages and a court order permanently blocking Apple Computer from using the Apple trademark in connection with the iTunes store. If Apple Computer loses the case, it may be forced to set up a separate music site, with no reference to its logo, lawyers have said.
