Kylie Minogue – Law Street https://legacy.lawstreetmedia.com Law and Policy for Our Generation Wed, 13 Nov 2019 21:46:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8 100397344 What Happened in the Kylie vs. Kylie Legal Battle? https://legacy.lawstreetmedia.com/blogs/ip-copyright/happened-kylie-vs-kylie-legal-battle/ https://legacy.lawstreetmedia.com/blogs/ip-copyright/happened-kylie-vs-kylie-legal-battle/#respond Tue, 07 Feb 2017 21:55:13 +0000 https://lawstreetmedia.com/?p=58751

Which Kylie is coming out on top?

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Image courtesy of Renan Katayama; license: (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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.

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:

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.

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Minogue vs. Jenner: Who Will Win the Trademark for the Name “Kylie”? https://legacy.lawstreetmedia.com/blogs/ip-copyright/minogue-vs-jenner-will-win-trademark-name-kylie/ https://legacy.lawstreetmedia.com/blogs/ip-copyright/minogue-vs-jenner-will-win-trademark-name-kylie/#respond Mon, 29 Feb 2016 20:45:10 +0000 http://lawstreetmedia.com/?p=50921

May the best "Kylie" win.

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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.

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.

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.

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