Who is Katie Perry? US singer Katy Perry loses trademark court case against Australian fashion designer

It was a case of Katie Perry’s ‘teenage dream’ coming true as a court ruled in her favour after she sued pop star Katy Perry for infringing a trademark she owned.

Katie Taylor is an Australian fashion designer who has been selling clothes under her birth name ‘Katie Perry’ since 2006 and has described her sustainable small business venture as a ‘dream come true’ only made possible through ‘blood, sweat and tears.’

The Sydney-born designer registered her company name as a trademark in Australia in 2008 and revealed she was working two jobs to stay afloat when initial legal action was launched by Katy Perry’s team.

Representatives of Katy Perry, born Kathryn Hudson, filed a cease and desist letter in 2009 opposing Katie’s trademark and later submitted a bid to cancel the name altogether foreshadowing that of Kylie Minogue blocking Kylie Jenner in 2014 trying to trademark the name ‘KYLIE’.

A decade later Katie Perry retaliated by suing the Roar singer for merchandise sold for Katy’s Australian tour in 2014 including a jacket, ‘Cozy Little Christmas’ hoodies and other garments, which the pop star then promoted on social media.

In what is now being called the ‘David and Goliath’ case, Justice Brigitte Markovic ruled that Katy Perry had in fact infringed the trademark and while she does not owe any compensation for using her name ‘in good faith’, her company Kitty Purry must pay damages at a later date.

It is also worth mentioning that during the court proceedings, Katie Perry admitted to being bullied, intimidated and sent death threats to her children and herself before she found out about derogatory remarks made by Katy Perry in an email exchange.

When the judgement was reached on Friday, Katie Perry detailed how she was ‘over the moon’ following the ‘tough journey’.

She said: “One of my values is truth and justice, and I knew I had to stand up for what is right. Stand up for small business, Australian law and also for my trademark." 

Before starting her own business, Katie Perry worked as a stylist, manager and buyer for the likes of Brown’s and David Jones.

She is a mother-of-two and gave birth to her daughter three months before filing a lawsuit against Katy Perry, which she described as not an ‘ideal time for juggling a legal matter’.

As the results emerge, it comes as Katy Perry performed at Tiffany & Co.’s flagship store opening appearing alongside the likes of Florence Pugh, Blake Lively and Bernard Arnault.