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For global sensation Katy Perry and Australian designer Katie Perry, a small difference in spelling sparked a legal saga spanning over six years.
The contention over the rights to use the names “Katie Perry” and “Katy Perry” commenced when the designer, now going by Katie Taylor, filed a lawsuit against the singer of hits like “Firework” and “Roar,” accusing her of trademark infringement.
The American performer, whose birth name is Katheryn Hudson, responded by attempting to nullify the designer’s trademark, claiming it could damage her reputation or mislead consumers.
After more than six years of legal wrangling, including the pop icon’s successful appeal against an initial Federal Court decision that favored the designer, the battle reached a definitive conclusion.
On Wednesday, the highest court in the land sided with the Australian designer, bringing the long-standing dispute to a close.
After years fighting to hold onto the label she has spent nearly 20 years building, Ms Taylor hailed the ruling as a victory for small businesses everywhere.
“I am absolutely over the moon,” Ms Taylor said in a statement to AAP.
“It honestly feels like a dream.”
Her lawyers argued during the High Court hearing that shoppers were savvy enough to distinguish between the two spellings and wouldn’t connect the label to the pop star.
The designer said she didn’t know of the singer’s existence when she first sought the clothing trademark in 2007.
But by the time Ms Taylor applied to trademark the name Katie Perry, she had heard I Kissed a Girl on the radio and bought the song on iTunes.
There was no way she could have known how famous Ms Hudson would become, her lawyer told the High Court in September.
But the pop star’s lawyers contended Ms Taylor should have made a complaint earlier instead of waiting 10 years after the sale of Katy Perry-branded merchandise began.
The designer faced the possibility of having the Katie Perry trademark de-registered after her 2023 win in the Federal Court was overturned on appeal.
But they had made a mistake in concluding there were grounds for its cancellation, the High Court determined in its majority ruling.
The decision marks the end of a tug-of-war that has been running since 2009, when Ms Hudson became aware the designer had applied to register the Katie Perry trademark.
According to court documents, the superstar told her talent agent Steven Jensen to “keep me outta it entirely”.
“I wouldn’t have even bothered with this (if) mtv hadn’t picked up this silliness,” she wrote in an email.
The singer is on the hook to foot Ms Taylor’s legal bill, with the figure to be determined at a later date.
The designer is celebrating with her family before returning to designing clothing.
“It’s been a long road, but I’m excited to move forward,” she told AAP.
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