Katy Perry is reigniting her feud with Aussie fashion designer Katie Jane Taylor, AKA Katie Perry, by filing an appeal to her trademark loss.
In April 2023, the Federal Court officially ruled in favour of the Aussie fashion designer in a trademark battle that had originally began in 2009.
However, the pop star is now challenging the court’s findings as the “Roar” singer and her firm have filed for an appeal, per 9News.
To give you a quick TL;DR on the bitter trademark battle: the Aussie fashion designer sold clothes under the name “Katie Perry” when she first launched in 2007. Katie Perry attempted to trademark the name for her business, but the US singer and her team challenged the Aussie designer.
“They [Katy Perry’s team] 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,” the fashion designer wrote on her website.
Katy Perry’s team eventually pulled their opposition to the Aussie designer’s trademark, allowing her to get it.
The “California Gurls” singer then used her name to sell merch during her tours Down Under in 2014 and 2016. Katie then challenged the pop star when she filed a case against the singer in 2019, claiming she disregarded her trademark.
In 2021, ABC News reported the US singer allegedly called Katie a “dumb bitch” in an email chain discussing the trademark.
“This dumb bitch won’t stop,” the singer allegedly wrote in a 2009 email. Perry’s manager Steven Jensen allegedly responded to the email chain, claiming the issue had been “blown way out of proportion”.
Jensen defended his client in court, saying it wasn’t directed at Katie personally. He tried to lessen the blow of Perry’s scathing words with the ol’ tortured, emotional artist’s defence. Classic.
“Katy Perry is an artist,” Jensen said. “Artists are emotional people. Emotions are what drive their talent. That was an emotional response, not directed at Ms Taylor personally.”
In late April 2023, Justice Brigette Markovic described the case as a “tale of two women, two teenage dreams and one name” in her ruling, per the BBC.
The judge found that the US singer infringed Katie Perry’s trademark during her 2014 tour, but rejected further infringement claims to sales during her 2018 Witness Tour.
After the court ruled in favour of the Aussie fashion designer, Perry posted an entry on her website labelling her legal battle a “David and Goliath Verdict“.
“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 wrote.
At the time of writing this article, a hearing for Katy Perry’s appeal has yet to be scheduled.
Image Source: Getty Images / Chris Jackson
