US singer Katy Perry loses trademark fight with Australian fashion designer Katie Perry

SYDNEY – An Australian court has ruled that American pop superstar Katy Perry infringed the trademark of a Sydney-based fashion designer, who has sold her products locally under a label with her birth name “Katie Perry”.

The Australian designer, who goes by her married name Katie Taylor, filed the lawsuit in 2019. She alleged the singer ignored the trademark and sold Katy Perry clothing to Australian customers during her concert tours in the country in 2014 and 2018 through retailers and websites.

Federal court judge Brigitte Markovic ruled that Katy Perry’s company Kitty Purry partially infringed the trademark of Taylor’s business, which sells mostly clothes online, by promoting the singer’s products through posts on social media, a court filing out on Thursday showed.

Damages are due to be decided at a later date.

“This is a tale of two women, two teenage dreams and one name,” Judge Markovic said in her judgment. She dismissed a bid by Katy Perry, who was born Katheryn Hudson, seeking to cancel the Katie Perry trademark.

Taylor called the verdict a “David and Goliath” win for small businesses. “Not only have I fought myself, but I fought for small businesses in this country, many of them started by women, who can find themselves up against overseas entities who have much more financial power than we do,” she said in a blog post.

Representatives of Katy Perry could not be immediately reached.

The tussle between the 38-year-old pop star and Taylor over the homophonous name began in 2008 when the fashion designer registered the “Katie Perry” brand in Australia. Taylor has been using the “Katie Perry” brand name since 2007.

Katy Perry initially tried to block the registration and later engaged lawyers to try to force Taylor to cease and forever desist from using the mark but later abandoned the move, the designer said. REUTERS