Katy Perry (Singer) Wants To Stop Katie Perry (Designer) From Selling Katie Perry Branded Clothing

from the confused-yet? dept

Cybeardjm points us to the news that Katy Perry, the pop singer, is apparently trying to stop a clothing designer named Katie Perry from selling clothes under her own name. Now, the details aren't entirely clear from the Billboard article here, but... Katie Perry (the designer) applied for a trademark for "Katie Perry" loungewear in September of 2008. Katy Perry, the singer, sent a cease-and-desist, suggesting that the designer was using a "similar name" to jump on the singer's popularity.

Oh, and just to make it even more confusing, the singer Katy Perry's real name is actually Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, while the designer's real name is Katie Jane Perry, but she often goes by the name Katie Howell. Got that?

Now, there are issues with both sides here. While I understand why the designer wants to trademark her line of clothing, given the "common" nature of the name (and the famous singer who has one so close) it's questionable if that's a reasonable trademark claim. So, I think it would actually be quite reasonable for the singer to fight against the trademark being issued. However... I'm not sure it makes sense to try to stop the actual clothing line from going forward. After all, if it is designed by Katie Perry, then you could argue that the name is accurate and descriptive. So, the trademark request in the first place may be questionable, but so is the attempt to stop the use of the name at all in a line of clothing.

Update: So the singer has clarified the situation and it sounds like the designer blew the whole thing out of proportion, potentially interpreting a notice of a trademark application by the singer to be a "lawsuit." So, basically, both are trying to get trademarks on their names, which is still silly, but no one's filed any lawsuits yet.

Filed Under: katie perry, katy perry, trademark