The battle has been on for over a decade.
The verdict has been announced in a long-awaited case between a Sydney-based clothing designer named Katie Jane Taylor (née Katie Perry) and the international pop sensation Katy Perry (née Katheryn Hudson).
Now, as reported by the ABC, the Federal Court of Australia designer has delivered the verdict, ruling in favour of the designer, and has confirmed that the popstar infringed on her copyright during a 2015 tour.
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“This is a tale of two women, two teenage dreams and one name,” wrote Justice Brigitte Markovic in a statement.
Since 2006, the fashion designer had been creating and manufacturing garments in Australia using her birth name. In 2008, when she attempted to register the IP, she received an unexpected letter from the homophonous singer’s lawyers.
“They stated that I should immediately stop trading under this name, withdraw all my clothes and sign a document drafted by them to say that from then on I will never trade under this name ever again,” Katie Perry wrote in a blog post.
“I felt bullied, insulted and surprised.”
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The singer made an attempt to block her, which was later withdrawn. The designer’s trademark was registered. But since then, things have gotten ugly between the two Ms Perrys.
When the singer visited Australia on her Prismatic Tour in 2014 and 2015, she chose to ignore the designer’s trademark and sold merchandise and clothing under the Katy Perry name through a pop-up storefront and the online merch retailer Bravado.
In 2019, the designer sued the singer for infringing upon her trademark by selling clothing under an extremely similar name. The case, which wrapped up on Friday, fell in favour of the designer.
It was decided that Katy Perry did not owe the designer any compensation because she used the name in ‘good faith’, however, one of her brands, Kitty Purry, is still on the hook for damages related to sales on Bravado.
“This is a win for small business. We matter, Australian laws matter and most importantly in the face of a bully it is important to stand up for yourself,” wrote designer Katie Perry.
To read designer Katie Perry’s full statement on the ‘David and Goliath’ case, head here.
