Singer Katy Perry wins name use appeal over designer Katie Perry

Katie vs. Katy has been settled.
Pop star Katy Perry won an appeal Friday of a trademark decision brought by Australian clothing designer Katie Taylor, who sells under her birth name Katie Perry.
Three judges ruled that a 2023 decision involving alleged trademark infringement that favored Taylor should be overturned. In short, Katy Perry (the singer) − born Katheryn Hudson − can use her stage name to sell merchandise in the country, despite the clothing designer’s claim over the trademark.
USA TODAY has reached out to Perry’s representatives for comment.
Since Perry had been using her name as a trademark five years before Taylor began selling clothes, and already had an “international reputation in her name in music and entertainment if not more broadly,” she was entitled to the use of her own name in Australia, the judges ruled.
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The judges canceled Taylor’s trademark registration as well.
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“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 judges wrote in their ruling.
They went on to allege that Taylor had at times tried to align herself with Perry, increasing the likelihood of “consumers potentially being deceived or confused.”
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However, little confusion has actually resulted, the court found. Since Perry offered for both women to have rights to the trademarked name in 2009, which Taylor rejected, the judges ruled that Taylor’s own trademark license would need to be canceled. “In that sense, (Taylor) has brought this result on herself. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to return to the time of peaceful co-existence,” they wrote.
Taylor was disappointed with the decision, telling The Guardian in a statement, “This case proves a trademark isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.”
She went on to say: “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.”
Perry, once nearly inescapable on the radio with hits like “California Girls” and “Firework,” is back on tour currently in support of her “143” album. She will return to Australia with shows across the country next summer.
The album, released in September, has not received rave reviews. After a troubled rollout, including a controversial music video for the single “Woman’s World,” which Perry later defended as satire, critics described the full album as a “spectacular flop” and “a failed attempt to rekindle her glory.”