Apple Music Trademark ‘Tacking’ Win Nixed by Federal Circuit (1)

An administrative tribunal wrongly dismissed a New York jazz festival organizer’s challenge to Apple Inc.'s application to use its “Apple Music” mark in connection with live entertainment, events, and media, the Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday.

In a precedential opinion, a three-judge panel said Apple can’t reach back through history and apply the Beatles’ Apple Corps mark—originally used to cover gramophone productions—to protect a broad category of live events and recordings. In doing so, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit used the case as a vehicle to clarify the bounds of an ill-defined trademark doctrine known as “tacking.” ...