Australian fashion designer Katie Perry has won her High Court appeal against pop megastar Katy Perry in a years-long trademark battle, with judges ruling that the singer’s well-established reputation would prevent any confusion between the two brands .
In a decision handed down on Wednesday, the High Court found that Katie Perry had not damaged the US singer’s reputation or caused confusion with her clothing brand, which was established in 2007 .
Katie Perry, who changed her surname to Taylor in 2015, had successfully sued Katy Perry two years ago for selling merchandise during a 2014 Australian tour, but that ruling was overturned in 2024 and her trademark was cancelled .
The new decision found that Perry’s reputation was so well-established in Australia that any ordinary person seeing Taylor’s clothing brand would not confuse the two names, given “the heightened strength of the reputation of Katy Perry” .
“This has been an incredibly long and difficult journey. But today confirms what I always believed – that trademarks should protect businesses of all sizes,” Taylor said in a statement shortly after the decision .
Taylor, who used her maiden name when she registered her business in 2007, described feeling vindicated by the ruling. “I had never heard of the singer when I started my label,” she said, noting that she first heard Katy Perry’s music in mid-2008 when the song “I Kissed A Girl” played on the radio .
“I was simply building a fashion business under the name I was born with,” she added .
A representative for the US pop star said in a statement that she “never sought to close down Ms. Taylor’s business or stop her selling clothes under the KATIE PERRY label.”
While the High Court allowed Taylor’s trademark to remain on the register, Katy Perry’s representative said some issues raised by the singer have been sent back to the full federal court .
The case centred around the sale of clothes under the Katie Perry brand in Australia and the sale of Katy Perry-branded merchandise during the singer’s 2014 Australian tour .
Taylor described the long legal battle as a “David and Goliath” struggle, saying, “This case has never just been about a name. It has been about protecting small business in Australia, for standing up for what is right and showing that we all matter” .
The legal saga began in 2009 when lawyers for Katy Perry asked Taylor to stop using her brand and signalled plans to oppose a trademark application, though they later dropped legal action . In 2023, Taylor sued the singer for trademark infringement and won, with the court finding that the sale of jackets, hoodies, T-shirts, and sweatpants during the 2014 tour breached trademark laws . That decision was overturned in 2024 before Wednesday’s High Court ruling reinstated Taylor’s position .
