One Would Think
Better luck next time? Perhaps it was the comment from Apple Computer’s lawyer Geoffrey Vos in March that “even a moron in a hurry” could distinguish between the logo of the computer giant he was defending and that of the 38-year-old record label set up by the Beatles. Or maybe it was Vos’ demonstration of downloading Chic’s thumping 1978 disco hit Le Freak in the courtroom to show how many times Apple Computer’s logo came up on iTunes, that did the trick.
I won’t even make any cheesy Beatles’ lyrics cracks.
Fun | tree hugging sister | 
May 8, 2006 9:17 am
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I will. I thought we were supposed to imagine no possessions? I wonder if they can?
And I thought all you needed was love, not trademarks.
If you pick a common name like “Apple”, be prepared to find a lot of other businesses using it. And the damn name makes more sense in the educational / computing world than in the music world, anyway.
“Imagine no possessions” is from John Lennon’s solo career. A more appropriate but still cheesy Beatles lyric would be
“I don’t care too………………much for money”
Rob, you could go the other way, too. “Give me money, that’s what I want”
Still, while Apple won this one I can see it getting stickier if they get more deeply involved in the music business.
They’re involved enough, Ken. I think the judgement was wrong.
I can see it. The (biggest) part of trademark law is brand confusion and profiting from the goodwill of another brand. If Apple Computer is limited strictly to the store rather than record labels, I don’t think there’s too much confusion, but it’s certainly close enough to be a difficult call.
I don’t think the dispute was about copyright or trademark law. They had an agreement with each other. Apple, the label, contends Apple, the music service, violated the agreement. I agree with Apple. 🙂
What about the Apple of my eye?
Well, he seems like a good shirt, ths. 🙂