A while back Apple Corps, which is owned by Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison, sued Apple Computer over its competing fruit-shaped logo and the actual name, Apple. Now a judge has ruled that Apple’s iTunes Music Store does not infringe on the trademark of Apple Corps, the Beatles umbrella organization. While Apple Corps also argued that the computer company had violated a 1991 trademark agreement by moving into the music business, Apple successfully argued that iTunes was primarily designed as a data transmission service and that it was permitted by that agreement. The judge agreed. Still, Apple Corps said it would appeal the decision and was meanwhile setting up its own online catalog of The Beatles recordings.
