Apparently, being a global superstar like Katy Perry does not guarantee the legal rights to your own name.
The popstar has just lost a long-running trademark battle in Australia over the name ‘Katy Perry’, in a court decision that feels like the legal equivalent of showing up to a party and discovering someone else is already wearing your outfit.
On Wednesday, the High Court of Australia ruled in favour of Australian fashion designer Katie Taylor, allowing her to continue selling clothing under the name ‘Katie Perry’.
The whole dispute has been rumbling along for nearly two decades.
Back in 2007, the Sydney-based designer launched a clothing label under her birth name, Katie Perry.
She registered the business, started selling clothes at markets, built a website, and generally got on with the business of being a small fashion entrepreneur.
At that point, she says, she had never even heard of the singer. ‘I had never heard of the singer when I started my label,’ she said in court documents.
The first time she encountered the other Katy Perry was when the song I Kissed a Girl came on the radio in 2008, at which point she presumably realised that sharing a name with a rapidly rising global pop star might become… complicated.
Sure enough, lawyers representing Katy Perry got in touch the following year, asking her to stop using the name and signalling plans to challenge her trademark.
The disagreement simmered quietly for years before erupting into a full-blown legal saga that has zigzagged through the Australian courts.
In 2023, Taylor won a major victory after arguing that merchandise sold during the singer’s 2014 Australian tour — including hoodies, jackets and T-shirts — infringed on her trademark.
But the victory didn’t last long. In 2024 the decision was overturned on appeal after judges concluded that Katy Perry the singer had effectively been using her name commercially before the designer’s business gained traction.
Now the High Court has stepped in with yet another twist as the judges ruled that the singer is so famous that Australians would not realistically confuse her with the clothing brand.
For Taylor, the ruling marks the end of what she previously described as a ‘David and Goliath’ battle.
‘This has been an incredibly long and difficult journey,’ she said after the decision.
‘But today confirms what I always believed — that trademarks should protect businesses of all sizes.’
A spokesperson for the singer said Perry had never attempted to shut down the designer’s company.
‘She never sought to close down Ms Taylor’s business or stop her selling clothes under the KATIE PERRY label,’ they said, adding that some remaining issues will return to the federal court.
Still, it is a strange moment in the ongoing saga of Katy Perry’s public life.
In recent years, the singer has managed to rack up headlines for a dizzying variety of reasons — from being widely mocked for kissing the ground after a brief flight aboard Blue Origin to her split from actor Orlando Bloom and reports of a budding romance with former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
But losing the legal right to your own name in another country might be the most surreal twist yet.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
