Katy Perry Wins Australian Trademark Appeal for Name Use

Pop star Katy Perry has prevailed in an appeal regarding a trademark ruling concerning her name, following a lawsuit initiated by an Australian designer, Katie Perry, who markets apparel using her given name. On Friday, a panel of three appeals judges reversed a previous court ruling from last year. That earlier decision had sided with Katie Taylor concerning merchandise sold by the pop star during her 2014 Australian tour. The judges determined that Perry had been utilizing her name as a trademark for five years prior to Taylor commencing her business operations. They further noted that, by that point, Perry had established an “international reputation” within the entertainment industry. Furthermore, the judges on Friday invalidated Taylor’s trademark registration. Taylor had previously characterized her legal dispute with Perry as akin to “David and Goliath”. Following Friday’s judgment, she informed the Sydney Morning Herald that she was “devastated” by the outcome of the case. The appeals judges commented that it was “unfortunate” that the legal proceedings involved two entrepreneurial women who both employed their names as trademarks, yet were unaware of each other’s existence. “Both women put blood, sweat and tears into developing their businesses,” the judges said. “As the fame of one grew internationally, the other became aware of her namesake and filed a trademark application,” they said. In her decision last year, the judge who had ruled in Taylor’s favor made reference to one of Perry’s most popular songs, stating: “This is a tale of two women, two teenage dreams and one name”. This ruling on Friday coincides with Perry’s preparations for her “Lifetimes” world tour, scheduled for early 2025, which will support her upcoming comeback album, “143”. This content is copyrighted by BBC, 2024. All rights are reserved. The BBC does not assume responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy can be found here.