Apple (the tech company ) vs Apple Corps (The Beatles’ record label) was one of the most epic trademark battles in history. The series of legal disputes lasted almost three decades, eventually leading Apple Computer to pay out $500 million to settle and acquire Apple Corps’ trademarks so it could use the name and logo for music distribution via iTunes.
A lot of people are now commenting on the apparent irony that now Apple is now suing Apple Cinemas for “knowingly and intentionally using the name Apple to sow confusion”. Apple doesn’t operate any cinemas and only started making films relatively recently. So is it all Apple and oranges?
Apple Cinemas is owned by Sand Media Corp Inc. It was founded in 2013 and now has 14 venues, identified by a logo that includes an apple shape formed by film. The chain was limited to the Northeastern US, but it’s now opened a cinema in San Francisco under 50 miles from Apple’s Cupertino headquarters and plans a nationwide expansion, which seems to be what sparked Apple to take action.
The Cupertino Apple says in its complaint: “Faced with Defendants’ plan to expand to 100 theaters nationwide, as well as widespread public confusion about Apple’s involvement in the theaters, Apple has no alternative but to file this lawsuit to protect its brand and customers from deception,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit cites cases in which people believed Apple Cinemas was owned by Apple Inc, illustrated by comments from online news reports and social media posts. It also says that the iPad-making Apple sent Sand Media a cease and desist letter in December 2024 but that the owner of the cinema chain continued with its expansion plans. It’s now seeking an injunction and monetary damages.
Apparently, Apple Cinemas took its name because it planned to open its first location at the Apple Valley Mall in Rhode Island, but it never actually opened there. It finally opened its first cinema in Massachusetts in 2013, over five years before Cupertino’s Apple founded Apple Studios and started making Apple Original Films.
That said, Apple did previously make the Apple Cinema Display, its line of flat-panel monitors sold between 1999 and 2011. And it seems that Sand Media had its application to trademark the names “Apple Cinemas” and “ACX — Apple Cinematic Experience” rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office last year.
Could Apple Cinemas really confuse people? The case is likely to bring up once more the so-called ‘moron in a hurry’ test, which Apple itself tried to use to defend itself against Apple Corps back in 2006, when it argued that even a moron in a hurry could not be mistaken about the difference between iTunes and the Apple Corps record label.
The court will have to consider how similar the brand’s logos are in terms of look and feel, and any direct evidence customers have confused the brands.
While some people criticise Apple for bullying a smaller business, it’s worth remembering that companies have to protect their brands or lose them, and Apple is one of the most valuable brands in the world. Trademark lawsuits aren’t only about the money – they’re often the only way that a company can test whether a legal infringement exists in order to shape the legal definition of its brand.
Grab the popcorn because the outcome of the case won’t just define the fate of Apple cinemas but also the potential scope and value of the Apple brand.