Australian Designer Katie Perry Wins Landmark Trademark Battle Against Pop Star

After more than fifteen years of legal skirmishing, Sydney fashion designer Katie Perry has won the right to keep her name on a clothing label. Australia's High Court delivered a majority decision finding that her registered trademark was not likely to cause confusion with pop star Katy Perry or damage the singer's reputation in Australia, and was not in breach of the Trade Marks Act. Costs were awarded to the designer.

The ruling reversed a 2024 appellate decision that had cancelled the designer's trademark outright, a judgment her legal team called particularly harsh. The Full Federal Court had found that Katy Perry, born Katheryn Hudson, had established a reputation in Australia before the designer's clothing brand existed, and on that basis ordered the trademark cancelled. The High Court, in a 3-2 majority, disagreed. The designer's trademark remains on the register, though the court remitted some issues back to the Full Federal Court for further consideration.

The designer, who registered her business name Katie Perry in 2007 and applied for a trademark in 2008, has sold clothes at Sydney markets, through a website, and across social media since that year. She was born with the name Katie Perry but changed her surname to Taylor in 2015. She says she did not know about the American singer when she first filed for trademark protection, though by the time registration came through she had heard "I Kissed a Girl" on the radio and was aware the name was shared.

The dispute has deep roots. In 2009, lawyers for the pop star contacted Taylor and asked her to stop using the brand, signalling an intention to oppose her trademark application, then dropped the legal action. The case went quiet until 2019, when Taylor took the singer to the Federal Court, alleging that the sale of Katy Perry-branded clothes, shoes and headwear during the singer's 2014 Prism Australian tour infringed her registered mark. Taylor won at first instance, lost on appeal in 2024 when the trademark was cancelled, then secured special leave to bring the matter before the High Court.

"This has been an incredibly long and difficult journey," Taylor said in a statement after the decision. "But today confirms what I always believed: that trademarks should protect businesses of all sizes."

A representative for the pop star said she had "never sought to close down Ms. Taylor's business or stop her selling clothes under the KATIE PERRY label," and noted that some issues raised by the singer have been sent back to the Full Federal Court, meaning the litigation may not be entirely concluded.

The case drew sharp attention from Australia's intellectual property community, with legal commentators noting that the High Court reaffirmed a foundational principle: trademarks protect use and reputation in actual trade, not abstract ownership of words. The narrowness of the majority, three justices to two, underlines how genuinely contested the legal question was. The central issue, whether a global celebrity's fame should displace a small local trader's registered rights, is one courts in many jurisdictions have wrestled with, and the High Court's answer will carry weight for Australian brand owners navigating that tension going forward.