Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Trump Announces Ban on Trans People Serving in the Military

In a surprise series of tweets this morning, President Donald Trump announced a new military policy. Per Trump’s tweets, he plans on banning trans people from any and all military service.

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

….Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

….victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

It’s unclear which “generals and military experts” he consulted with, but this announcement marks a major departure from current military policy. Last year, it was announced that trans individuals would be able to serve openly in the military. It’s also unclear what will happen to trans people already serving. Exact numbers are, understandably, hard to quantify, but it’s believed that approximately 1,320-6,630 trans Americans currently serve. But their medical care, which Trump cites as the reasoning for precluding them from service, contributes to a miniscule percentage of Department of Defense health care expenditures. Estimates put caring for trans people in the military anywhere from $2-8 million. For context, the DoD’s total yearly health care spending is to the tune of $50 billion.

There are a lot of details still to come, but right now, it seems clear that this move was at least partly political:

Just spoke to a Trump administration official about the transgender military decision. Here’s what they said… pic.twitter.com/eOWdvlxTfd

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) July 26, 2017

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post RantCrush Top 5: July 26, 2017 appeared first on Law Street.

A two-year legal battle between the world’s two most well-known Kylies seems to be settled…for now. In 2015, Kylie Jenner, who became famous thanks to the reality show “Keeping Up With The Kardashians,” attempted to trademark her first name. She filed a request with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) so that she could use it for advertising purposes in the U.S.

But Australian pop legend Kylie Minogue wouldn’t have it. Her team filed a notice of opposition in February 2016, claiming that Jenner trademarking their shared first name would damage the pop diva’s brand.  Minogue has sold perfume, make up, skincare products, jewelry, and other items under her own name. The opposition notice describes her as an “internationally renowned performing artist, humanitarian and breast cancer activist” who is widely known by her first name.

Kylie Minogue wins a legal battle against Kylie Jenner over the “Kylie” name trademark: https://t.co/RX0gIIlVs9 pic.twitter.com/0hJROzAGuq

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) February 7, 2017

Even though most young Americans now associate “Kylie” with the Kardashian-Jenner clan’s youngest, Minogue has been a globally-known pop star since 1979. And her lawyers didn’t have very nice words for then-19-year-old Jenner when she filed the lawsuit: “Ms. Jenner is a secondary reality television personality,” whose “photographic exhibitionism and controversial posts have drawn criticism from, e.g., the Disability Rights and African-American communities,” the notice of opposition read.

Minogue already has very similar trademarks such as “Kylie Minogue Darling,” “Lucky–the Kylie Minogue musical” and “Kylie Minogue,” as well as her website kylie.com. The musical doesn’t exist yet, but she has plans to produce one some day. Shortly after filing the documents, Minogue tweeted:

Hello….. My name is KYLIE #lightyears

— kylie minogue (@kylieminogue) February 28, 2016

The case has been suspended at least twice in the past year due to settlement negotiations. On January 19, Minogue withdrew her opposition. Jenner’s application for the trademark may proceed, and the case was listed as “terminated” on January 26, so it’s possible that there was a quiet agreement reached.

In the midst of all this, Jenner released her cosmetic line “Kylie Cosmetics” last summer. She also lost a separate battle in which she aimed to trademark her full name in November 2015. She planned to use “KYLIE JENNER” to sell a very long list of clothing and accessories–“Belts; Bottoms; Coats; Dresses; Footwear; Gloves; Headbands”–and so on. But the USPTO denied the request, as the name is “confusingly similar” to other trademarks such as totally unrelated clothing brand “Kylee,” and Jenner’s brand with her sister, “Kendall and Kylie.” But Jenner filed an appeal on January 23, so the process is likely not over yet. Seems like Jenner’s lawyers have been pretty busy!

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post What Happened in the Kylie vs. Kylie Legal Battle? appeared first on Law Street.

Someone call the fashion police!

A fashion label that created a custom outfit for Rihanna is involved in a legal battle against another brand after Kylie Jenner sported their similar design.

The company L’Impasse Couture, which designed the green fringe jumpsuit that Rihanna wore after the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, sent a cease-and-desist letter to The Dolls House fashion boutique for allegedly replicating the jumpsuit in white.

Everyone's asking who wore it better?? We think Limpasse slayed Rihanna's Custom Made Green Fringe Jumpsuit!! Riri is a Slay Queen! Still a best seller link in bio @limpasseboutique #limpasseboutique#limpasse#rihanna#jumpsuit#fringe#bloggers#fashionbloggers#custom#sexy#design#designers#slayqueen#celeb#celrbrities#nyc#Paris#dubai#shop#shopping#fashion#kyliejenner#super#dress#woman#insta#instafashion#fashionista#abdulsall

A photo posted by LimpasseNYC® (@limpasseboutique) on Jan 31, 2017 at 9:36am PST

The dispute came to light when Jenner posted an Instagram photo of herself flaunting the jumpsuit earlier this week.

According to the letter, sent in September:

The Dolls House Fashion Ltd. has unlawfully represented a L’Impasse dress worn by  Rihanna by posting a photograph on Instagram claiming the design to be their own. L’Impasse has not granted [The Dolls House] the authority to commercially market their designs or given consent to make representations using L’Impasse’s trademark.

However, The Dolls House is maintaining that they came up with the design before L’Impasse did. In a statement to Refinery29, it said:

We are the original designers of the jumpsuit, which you can find proof of on our Instagram timeline, where we have posted images [of it] since February, 2016. We designed the jumpsuit in September, 2015, and we actually had fabric made a specific way for this style. We have invoices for this fabric dating back to September 2015. The Lanna Cami Fringe Jumpsuit was officially launched in February 2016, and was added to our website, available for customers to order.

Though Jenner herself isn’t involved in the case, she has been at the center of similar controversies before. In February, Jenner tried to trademark her own first name, and at the end of last month, she reportedly settled a deal with a makeup artist who accused her of plagiarism.

Victoria Sheridan

Victoria is an editorial intern at Law Street. She is a senior journalism major and French minor at George Washington University. She’s also an editor at GW’s student newspaper, The Hatchet. In her free time, she is either traveling or planning her next trip abroad. Contact Victoria at VSheridan@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Kylie Jenner’s Jumpsuit Could Lead to a Lawsuit appeared first on Law Street.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but makeup artist Vlada Haggerty doesn’t seem to think so. After allegedly stomaching months of idea theft, Haggerty says she’s ready to sue Kylie Jenner, claiming the “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” reality star copied her artwork to promote her holiday makeup line.

On November 19, the Kylie Cosmetics Twitter page posted an image of a woman with red ombre lips concealing her eyes with gold covered hands. The promo pic was meant to show off some of Jenner’s newest creme shadow and lip kit shades.

Yellow Gold CRÈME shadow on hands available in the holiday collection. Left to right: MARY JO, MERRY, VIXEN ombré on the lips @MarceloCantu pic.twitter.com/05jO4qEFIH

— KYLIE COSMETICS (@kyliecosmetics) November 19, 2016

However, the image drew a striking resemblance to one that Haggerty posted on September 24 captioned “See No Evil.” Haggerty, who goes by the username Vladmua on Instagram, called out Jenner and her company a week ago by posting a side-by-side of the two pics and captioning it:

Really @kyliecosmetics? Haven’t you gotten enough ‘inspiration’ from me already? Left is a the work @juliakuzmenko, @brittrafuson and I shot a few months ago and right is @kyliecosmetics new campaign.

Really @kyliecosmetics? Haven’t you gotten enough ‘inspiration’ from me already? Left is a the work @juliakuzmenko, @brittrafuson and I shot a few months ago and right is @kyliecosmetics new campaign.

A photo posted by Vlada Haggerty (@vladamua) on Nov 19, 2016 at 8:18pm PST

This is all part of a long controversy between the two that dates back to a year ago. Haggerty claims that not only has Kylie attempted to pass off her artwork as her own in the past, but the teenage entrepreneur also modeled her brand’s lip logo off  Haggerty’s signature melting lips.

Aside from the copycat claims, Jenner also faced backlash over defective lip gloss wands and overpricing, and was even accused of rebranding ColourPop’s matte liquid lipsticks formula as her own.

Photographer Julia Kuzmenko McKim, who captured Haggerty’s “See No Evil” image explained the concept of the photoshoot in a lengthy blog post. McKim wrote, “It breaks my heart to see how large brands take independent, unprotected artists’ work and use them to multiply their wealth. In an ideal world, big brands would easily prevent such backlashes by hiring the artists who have already created something that they would love for their own campaign.”

Kylie Cosmetics has not yet commented on the threat of legal action, but some experts say the lawsuit will likely be a dud. Since ideas aren’t legally protected, Jenner would need to have used the exact same image as Haggerty for there to be a real case.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Kylie Jenner Threatened with Lawsuit Over Holiday Promo Pics appeared first on Law Street.

Nowadays, when you say the name “Kylie” most people assume you’re referring to the the lip-injected youngest sister of the Kardashian/Jenner clan, Kylie Jenner. But have we already forgotten that up until a few years ago, the “Kylie” we all couldn’t get out of our heads was none other than Australian dance-pop singer Kylie Minogue? Well Minogue has no problem stepping in to remind us, as she prepares to stop Jenner from trademarking their shared name.

Hello….. My name is KYLIE #lightyears

— kylie minogue (@kylieminogue) February 28, 2016

Minogue threw shade at the 18-year-old “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” star, calling her a “secondary reality television personality” in a notice of opposition to Jenner’s trademark application filed last week. The singer argued that allowing Jenner to have the trademark would cause confusion for her fans and dilute her brand.  She supported her claims by referencing criticism of Jenner from disability rights groups and African American communities.

Kylie Minogue is NOT happy about Kylie Jenner trademarking their name: https://t.co/038GZtBadK pic.twitter.com/Oqma75BeN4 — Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) February 29, 2016

According to CNN, Jenner filed an application to trademark her name in May 2015 for “entertainment in the nature of providing information by means of a global computer network in the fields of entertainment, fashion and pop culture.”

To be honest, the move makes sense. From a brand perspective, Jenner is killing the game. She’s one of the most followed people on  social media, and already has a knack for entrepreneurial pursuits. Her newly launched liquid lipstick company, Kylie Cosmetics is so hyped up that it can’t even keep product on its site for longer than 10 minutes. Therefore, trademarking her name would be a good business move that would give her protection in using “Kylie” for advertising purposes.

Still she’ll have to put up a fight if she wants to stop Minogue from snagging the name herself. Minogue is no stranger to trademarks, and already owns the terms “Kylie Minogue,” “Kylie Minogue Darling” (the name of her perfume brand) and “Lucky – the Kylie Minogue Musical,” and the domain name kylie.com.

It’s hard to tell which Kylie, if any, will prevail, but it looks like they’re both in for a fight!

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Minogue vs. Jenner: Who Will Win the Trademark for the Name “Kylie”? appeared first on Law Street.