Katy Perry loses trademark case against Australia designer Katie Perry

Katy Perry, born Katheryn Hudson, has lost the trademark battle against the Australian fashion label Katie Perry, and won’t be able to trademark her stage name.

An Australian court has found that the ‘California Gurls’ singer did in fact infringe on the trademark of the fashion label after she sold merchandise bearing her stage name during shows she performed in Australia in 2014 and 2018.

What the lawsuit claims

“This is a tale of two women, two teenage dreams and one name,” said Justice Brigitte Markovic in her final judgment.

Katie Taylor began her fashion label Katie Perry in 2006, trademarked the name in 2009, and eventually filed the lawsuit against Katy Perry in 2019.

Her lawsuit came 10 years after Katy’s team of lawyers at EMI, her record label, filed a motion to IP Australia to have the trademark removed in 2009 as it was similar to Katy’s stage name.

“Imagine my surprise when one of the reactions I received was a letter from lawyers representing the US singer, Katy Perry,” Taylor wrote in a recent blog post on her fashion label’s website after the ruling.

Taylor goes by her married name Katie Taylor in everyday life, but her label bears her birth name, Katie Perry.

“They stated that I should immediately stop trading under this name, withdraw all my clothes and sign a document drafted by them to say that from then on I will never trade under this name ever again,” Taylor explained.

“While the singer eventually gave up trying to prevent my Australian trademark from being registered, once registered, she chose to simply disregard it,” she said referring to the merch sold in Australia.

“Singer Katy Perry clothing was sold to Australian customers during Katy Perry performance tours over here, and through retail channels, including via websites. The singer has continued to ignore my trademark and one of her companies continues to sell infringing goods unlawfully in Australia.”

What the ruling means for Katy Perry

Justice Markovic ruled that although Katy did infringe on the trademark in Australia, she did so “in good faith”, meaning she won’t have to personally compensate Taylor for doing so.

However, Katy’s company, Kitty Purry, will have to pay damages to Taylor’s fashion label for the trademark infringement for selling the merch bearing her stage name in Australia in 2014 and 2018 at her shows.

Justice Markovic also noted that this included ‘Katy Perry’ merchandise sold in stores at Target, Myer, Amazon, and eBay during the 2014 ‘Prism Tour’ and the 2018 ‘Witness Tour’.

“I’m absolutely over the moon,” Taylor said on her win. “It’s been about standing up for small business, for Australian law and also for justice and truth.”