Australian designer Katie Perry has won a 16-year-long trademark battle against US pop star Katy Perry. On March 11th, the High Court of Australia ruled that the designer had not misled customers in any way or hurt the singer’s reputation.
However, Katie did get married since all of this started and uses the last name, Taylor. So, for simplicity’s sake, we will call her by that last name from here on out.
Taylor launched her eponymous clothing brand in 2006, almost 2 years before the pop star’s 2nd album, One of the Boys, hit shelves. Her first album was released under her real name before she started using the surname Perry. Meaning the clothing brand technically pre-dates her stage persona. Not to mention it’s the designer’s real maiden name.
Katie vs Katy
In 2009, Perry’s lawyers sent Taylor cease-and-desist letters. “I had never heard of the singer when I started my label,” Taylor said in court. “I was simply building a fashion business under the name I was born with.”
In 2019, Taylor sued Perry, claiming that the singer’s selling of sweatpants, hoodies, jackets, and other items during a 2014 tour infringed her trademark. Taylor initially won, but the verdict was overturned on appeal in 2024. At the time, the judges said Perry had been using her name as a trademark 5 years before Taylor started her business….
As of March 11th, 2026, the High Court ruled 3:2 that given “the heightened strength of the reputation of Katy Perry, no ordinary person in Australia, after a moment’s reflection, would think Katie Perry’s products were linked to the singer.”
Even ruling that Perry and international merchandise distributor Bravado infringed on Taylor’s copyright. Given that they sold clothing in Australia, but their registration excluded clothing items.
“Katy Perry has never sought to close down Ms. Taylor’s business or stop her from selling clothes under the Katie Perry label,” a spokesperson for Perry said in a statement. “Today, by a 3:2 decision, the High Court determined that Ms. Taylor’s trademark can remain on the register.”
“This case has never just been about a name,” Taylor said on her website. “It has been about protecting small businesses in Australia, standing up for what’s right, and showing that we all matter.”
Let’s hope this case stays out of the courts for a while.
