Ruling Expected in Apple Logo Dispute

A British High Court judge is expected to rule today in the fight between Apple Computer and the Beatles’ Apple Corps record label over the use of the apple logo.

Apple Corps Ltd. is suing Apple Computer Inc., claiming that the Cupertino, Calif., computer company broke a 1991 agreement in which each agreed not to enter the other’s field of business.

The British company, started by the Beatles in 1968, contends that Apple Computer has infringed its territory by entering the music business and is seeking to force Apple Computer to drop its apple logo from the iTunes Music Store and pay unspecified damages.

Apple Computer claims that the 1991 agreement allows it to use the logo because it does not own the rights to the music but simply the digital technology to distribute it.

Lawyers for Apple Computer told Judge Edward Mann during the High Court hearing last month that it was conducting its business legally and that music lovers were smart enough to distinguish between the logos.

Apple Corps uses a shiny green apple as its logo. Apple Computer has a cartoon-like apple with a neat bite taken out.