Apple wins trademark suit against Apple Corps

A long and winding legal road took another twist for the Beatles’ record company Monday, when a British judge ruled that Apple Computer Inc. is entitled to use the apple logo on its iTunes Music Store.

Apple Corps, the guardian of the Beatles’ commercial interests, contended that the U.S. company’s use of the logo on its popular online music store had broken a 1991 agreement in which each side agreed not to enter into the other’s field of business.

But High Court Judge Anthony Mann disagreed, saying that the computer company’s logo is used in association with the store — not the music — and so did not breach the agreement.

“I conclude that the use of the apple logo … does not suggest a relevant connection with the creative work,” Mann said in his written judgment. “I think that the use of the apple logo is a fair and reasonable use of the mark in connection with the service, which does not go further and unfairly or unreasonably suggest an additional association with the creative works themselves.”

Though Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs said he was “glad to put this disagreement behind us,” the dispute appears far from over. Neil Aspinall, the manager of Apple Corps, said his company would immediately take the case to Britain’s Court of Appeal.

•Daily circulation fell 2.5 percent at U.S. newspapers in the six-month period ending in March, according to data released Monday, reflecting the industry’s ongoing struggle to retain paying customers amid competition from the Internet and other media outlets.

The Newspaper Association of America, analyzing data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, also reported that Sunday circulation fell 3.1 percent at the 610 newspapers reporting those figures. The 2.5 percent decline in average paid weekday circulation was based on data from 770 newspapers reporting to the Audit Bureau.

The overall decline in both weekday and Sunday circulation were approximately the same as those given in the previous six-month reporting cycle ending last September.

•Shares in European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. rose Monday after Merrill Lynch upgraded its rating on the stock, citing expectations that its civil jet unit Airbus will announce a redesign of its mid-sized A350 plane.

The investment bank raised its EADS rating to “buy” from “neutral” in a report to investors Monday, saying the stock’s recent decline reflected heavy criticism of the planned jet.