Katy Perry Wins Trademark Appeal Against Australian Fashion Designer Katie Perry

Mar. 15, 2025

Katy Perry on April 25, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.Photo:Monica Schipper/Getty

Monica Schipper/Getty

Katy Perryhas successfully appealed against a trademark decision over her name,BBC,The GuardianandUSA Todayreport.

In April 2023,Taylor won a court casestating that the pop star’s 2014 Australian tour merchandise breached a trademark the designer had held since 2008.

Katy Perry on May 19, 2024.Disney/Eric McCandless

Disney/Eric McCandless

On Friday, Nov. 22, three appeals judges unanimously overturned last year’s court decision that favored Taylor, ruling that the singer used her name as a trademark five years before Taylor started her business in 2008.

Taylor has been using the “Katie Perry” brand name, which she trademarked in Australia on Sept. 29, 2008, according to herwebsite. Notably, Perry’s first hit single, “I Kissed a Girl,” was released in April 2008 and was featured on her second studio album,One of the Boys.

The judges ruled that at that point, the “Dark Horse” singer had attained an “international reputation in her name in music and entertainment if not more broadly,” per USA Today. Therefore, Perry was entitled to use her own name in Australia.

Additionally, in 2009, Perry’s attorneys sent Taylor a “cease and desist” letter before suggesting they come to a “coexistence agreement.” But Taylor rejected the agreement, and the judges ruled due to that 2009 decision “[Taylor] has brought this result on herself," per USA Today. “Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to return to the time of peaceful co-existence."

Although Judge Markovic ruled in 2023 that Perry infringed the trademark with merchandise in 2014, the judges determined on Nov. 22 that Perry had used her name as a trademark in good faith during the 2014Prismtour.

Katy Perry on September 30, 2024 in Paris, France.Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty

Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty

Along with Perry’s successful appeal, the judges also canceled Taylor’s trademark registration on Nov. 22. They found that Taylor only applied for her trademark after realizing Perry’s reputation and some of Taylor’s brand decisions could have increased the chances of “consumers potentially being deceived or confused.”

“This case is an unfortunate one in the sense that two enterprising women in different countries each adopted their name as a trademark at a time that each was unaware of the existence of the other,” the ruling read, per USA Today. “Both women put blood, sweat and tears into developing their businesses,” per BBC.

“As the fame of one grew internationally, the other became aware of her namesake and filed a trademark application,” the ruling read, per BBC.

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Taylor issued a statement: “This case proves a trademark isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. My fashion label has been a dream of mine since I was 11 years old and now that dream that I have worked so hard for, since 2006, has been taken away,” perThe Guardian.

“I have lost everything, including my trademark. As you can imagine I’m devastated,” she toldThe New York Post.

source: people.com