In A Bold Trademark Case, Katy Perry Gets Hit With Infringement

Shocking, innit?

I'll be honest. To this day, I still have no idea what it means to "feel like a plastic bag." That said, I'd imagine it it involves the possibility of the wind being knocked out of you. I'd imagine how it would feel if a court told me that I couldn't use my own name. Thankfully, we don't have to worry about how I'd actually feel about that happening -- we have the option of defaulting to Katy Perry's expertise. From Reuters:

An Australian court has ruled that 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".

Katie Taylor, who filed the lawsuit in 2019, 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.
...
Taylor, whose birth name was Katie Perry, 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.

I'm sure this verdict will be the one that got away for Katy. Despite her yells and her counsel's roars, her attempt to crowd out a small business owner blew up like a firework. I'm sure Katy will be all right though -- the apparel sales are presumably a much smaller part of her than what Katie would have had to give up unconditionally if the case didn't go her way. Katy is still well off, after all. If she wants she can take the rest of her money, go buy a dark horse, and cry about it later.

Okay, enough song puns. You get the gist. Now get back to work. Those billables won't bill themselves.

Katy Perry Loses Trademark Fight With Australian Fashion Designer [Reuters]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord(TM) in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.