Australian fashion designer Katie Perry has won her High Court appeal against pop superstar Katy Perry in a long-running trademark case.
The Supreme Court ruled that Katie Perry had not harmed the singer's reputation nor caused confusion with her clothing brand, which was launched in 2007.
Katie Perry, who changed her last name to Taylor in 2015, had won a lawsuit two years earlier against Perry for selling promotional products during a 2014 Australian tour, but the decision was overturned in 2024 and the designer's trademarked name was reverted.
The new ruling found that Katy Perry's reputation was so well-known in Australia that anyone who saw Taylor's clothing brand would not confuse the two names.
“This has been an incredibly long and difficult journey,” Taylor said in a statement shortly after the decision. “But today confirms what I have always believed, that trademarked names should protect businesses of all sizes.”
A representative for Katy Perry said in a statement that the singer "has never sought to close Taylor's business or stop her from selling clothing under the KATIE PERRY label."
While the Supreme Court allowed Taylor's trademarked name to remain registered, Katy Perry's representative said that several issues raised by the singer have been sent back to Federal Court.
The case centers on the sale of clothing under the Katie Perry brand in Australia and the sale of promotional products with the Katy Perry brand during the singer's tour.
After launching the brand in 2008, Taylor began selling clothes at local markets, had a website, and several social media accounts under the Katie Perry brand.
But in 2009, the singer's lawyers asked her to stop using her trademark and said they would challenge it legally, but later backed down.
In 2023, Taylor sued the singer for trademark infringement and won, after the singer's sale of jackets, T-shirts, and sweatpants during her 2014 tour was deemed a violation of trademark laws.
But in 2024 the decision was overturned on appeal, after judges said Katy Perry had used her name as a trademark five years before Taylor started her business.
Wednesday's ruling found that given the "increased strength of Katy Perry's reputation", "no ordinary person in Australia... after a moment's reflection" would think that Katie Perry products were associated with the American singer.
“This issue has never been about a name,” Taylor said. “It’s been about protecting small businesses in Australia, standing up for what’s right and showing that we all matter.”
In recent years, Katy Perry has frequently been in the media headlines for various reasons, from mockery after kissing the ground after descending from a Blue Origin spaceflight, to her highly publicized divorce from actor Orlando Bloom and her new relationship with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
