Australian fashion designer Katy Perry has filed a lawsuit against American singer Katy Perry. According to the New York Post, she accused her namesake of copyright infringement.
The Australian produces clothes under her own name. She accused the American singer of infringing her trademark. According to the newspaper, the conflict between the two Perrys arose in 2009, a year after the release of the singer’s debut single. It is alleged that at that time Perry’s representatives approached the designer with a proposal to agree on the use of similar names and surnames, to which she refused.
The clothing designer claims that she launched her brand in 2006, worked on it throughout the following year, and officially registered it in 2009. According to Perry, this happened before her namesake achieved popularity among Australians.
The case itself was considered in Australian courts for over five years and had mixed results. So, in 2023, the designer won the case, but a year later the appeal court overturned the decision. NYP clarifies that the High Court of Australia will now review the case. It suggests that in making its decision, the appeal court may have relied on “a false premise of fame,” which threatens local Australian brands.