In 2023, a judge ruled in favor of an Australian fashion designer named Katie Taylor. She has been selling clothing in the country since 2007 under her birth name, Katie Perry. She made it a registered trademark. But in 2014, during her Australian tour, singer Katy Perry sold hoodies, t-shirts, sweatpants and scarves under the Katy Perry brand in the country. The first therefore pursued the second.
The 2023 court ruling found that the singer's clothes violated the designer's trademark. But that she had acted “in good faith” and owed no compensation to the milliner. On the other hand, his company Kitty Purry was ordered to pay damages. Katy Perry then appealed.
And she won. On November 22, three judges ruled that Katy Perry had used her name as a trademark five years before Katie Taylor started her business. And that the singer was already internationally known when the designer launched her clothes. As a result, even the registration of the Katie Perry trademark, filed by the Australian in 2007, was canceled, according to the BBC.
The judges said it was “regrettable” that the case was between two enterprising women who used their names as trademarks but were unaware of the other's existence. “As one (Katty Perry)'s fame grew internationally, the other became aware of her namesake and filed for trademark registration.”
The Australian designer said she was devastated by the verdict and the cancellation of her trademark.
