P.M. BRIEFING : People Magazine Rival Loses Suit

People magazine won a round in the battle of the checkout lines when a federal judge said a rival magazine designed a copycat cover and must change it.

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet issued a preliminary injunction barring Globe Communications Corp., which has published Celebrity Plus since January, 1987, from using elements of the People cover format.

Time Inc., which owns the 15-year-old magazine, sued last month over the People-like lettering and design of the Celebrity Plus cover, even after Globe changed the dot over the “i” in Celebrity to a star and added the words “A Globe Publication” to the cover.