Apple faces off with Apple to the sound of disco

LONDON – As a disco beat filled a staid British courtroom today, the Beatles' record company asked a judge to force Apple Computer Inc. to remove the logo from the popular iTunes Music Store.

A lawyer who represents record label Apple Corps Ltd., founded by the Fab Four in 1968, took the courtroom on a virtual tour of the iTunes Music Store to demonstrate how it works — and to show Judge Edward Mann how often the Apple Computer logo pops up.

"If you click on the disco section — which I'm sure would be your lordship's immediate choice — you'll see a list of tracks," lawyer Geoffrey Vos said to laughter.

Out of the 3.7 million songs available at the store, Vos chose "Le Freak," the 1978 disco hit by Chic. After the chorus echoed through the courtroom at London's Royal Courts of Justice, Vos argued the Apple Computer logo was "intimately connected" with the music store.

Apple Corps wants Apple Computer to drop the trademark apple from the iTunes Music Store, and is also asking for damages, though a monetary figure has not yet been named.

Vos argued before Mann — an acknowledged iPod user — that while Apple Computer is perfectly entitled to produce programs like iTunes, it should stay out of the music business if it uses the Apple logo. He said a 1991 agreement set out the areas each company could operate in using their respective Apple trademarks.

"They were the people who were supplying computer systems, computer software, computer hardware. That's what they did," Vos said. "We were the people supplying the music. And they crossed the dividing line."

He also played a commercial promoting the release of British band Coldplay's "X&Y" album. As their hit song "Speed of Sound" filled the courtroom, Vos pointed out that the commercial is not for any of Apple's computer products. The commercial ends with a shot of Apple Computer's logo.

On Wednesday, Apple Computer said only that the companies differ in their interpretations of the 1991 contract, and that the court must now straighten it out. The company's lawyers will begin their opening arguments on Thursday. The trial is expected to last at least five days.

Vos said the computer company had been keen to use the Apple brand on its Music Store, and had offered $1 million to Apple Corps for the rights. That was rejected by Neil Aspinall, Apple Corps' managing director, Vos said.

There has been much litigation between the two Apples. The Beatles sued Apple Computer over the name in 1981, four years after Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computer. He is said to have chosen the name in part as a tribute to The Beatles.

The 1981 case ended after the tech company paid The Beatles' company an undisclosed amount and agreed to use the name only for computer products.

A decade later, The Beatles sued again, alleging Apple Computer was violating the initial agreement by using its Apple logo on music-synthesizing products. The case was settled out of court with Apple Computer paying an undisclosed amount to The Beatles' company and signing the agreement around which the latest lawsuit revolves.