Apple Corps, founded by members and family members of the Beatles, lost the legal battle with the American group Apple Computers, which maintains the right to use the apple, the brand’s traditional logo, associated with the iTunes music service.
The company created by Paul McCartney and bandmates sued Apple for using the apple associated with the popular digital music service under an agreement the two companies had signed in 1991 and under which Apple pledged not to use the apple to promote business wherever the second company was, more specifically in music.
The London judge who considered the case considers, however, that the use of the apple on iTunes means an association with a service and not with music or musical products themselves, rejecting the claims of the ex-Beatles who demanded large compensation, calculated based on the dividends obtained by Apple with the association of the apple with the music service.
«There was no violation of the agreement» since the use of the logo does not imply «a relevant relationship with the creative work» offered in the iTunes Music Store, explains the sentence released in the international press.
The former Beatles have already admitted that they intend to appeal the sentence and try to reverse the judge’s decision. For now they will have to pay Steve Jobs’ Apple $ 3.7 million in court fees.
Apple Corps emerged in 1968 by the Beatles and has since adopted a green apple as a logo. Apple’s apple distinguishes itself from this not only in the color and flaw that it intends to represent a bite, but also in its conceptual aspect.
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