Apple vs. Apple trademark battle set for London court

Apple Corps., the Beatles' record company, and Apple Computers are to meet in a London Court Wednesday as the latest battle in their trademark war gets underway.

The London-based record company, which guards the iconic band's musical heritage, has launched its third lawsuit against the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant.

At issue in this latest Apple vs. Apple battle is the iTunes online music store.

Apple Corps. claims that the hugely popular site which allows users in Canada, Europe, the U.S., the U.K., Australia and Japan to download digital music files violates an agreement that the two companies struck in 1991.

According to Apple Corps, the iTunes web store infringes on the pact that Apple Computers made not to enter the music business.

However, the computer company said in a statement that the two companies "now have differing interpretations of this agreement and will need to ask a court to resolve this dispute."

British Judge Martin Mann, who admitted during pre-trial hearings that he owns an iPod music player (which can be used to play files from iTunes), will preside over the case, to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Long-running dispute

The two companies have fought trademark battles several times over the past three decades.

The Beatles formed their Apple record label in 1968 and the company still releases compilations of the band's music. It is now owned by the two surviving members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the estate of the late George Harrison.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak formed Apple Computers in 1976 in order to sell personal computers.

Apple Corps., the record label's holding company, sued the fledgling computer business for infringing on its trademarked name. The matter was eventually settled out of court in the early 1980s, with Apple computers paying a settlement and agreeing not to enter the music business.

By the late 1980s, Apple Corps. had launched a new lawsuit against the computer company, claiming that adding sound to their computers and selling music software was another infringement of its trademark. Apple Computers paid another settlement and agreed not to sell physical music materials such as CDs.

Apple Computers launched its now-ubiquitous digital audio player iPod in 2001 and, just two years later, began unveiling their iTunes online music stores in various countries. The music players and the internet store have since dominated the digital music market.

That same year, Apple Corps. filed the current lawsuit against the computer company, saying that the online store violates the agreement reached the last time around.

Apple Corps. is seeking an injunction to enforce the 1991 deal and undisclosed financial damages for the purported breach of contract.

The company has aggressively protected the business interests of the Beatles over the years. In addition to its legal wrangling withApple Computers, the company has also sued the EMI music label on several occasions over allegations of unpaid royalties.

EMI owns the copyright, in perpetuity, to recordings made by the Beatles.

Apple Corps. has also refrained from allowing songs from the Beatles catalogue to be sold online, although unauthorized versions are already traded between file-sharers.