Hasta La Ideas

Following our reporting the other day on the news that lawyers representing pop singer Katy Perry had gone after an Australian designer named Katie Perry after the latter had tried to trademark her name, the negative “big celebrity picks on the little guy” buzz started finding its way around the internet, resulting in Perry, the singer, and her record company, EMI, deciding to post a brief note on her blog:

In the course of securing trademark protection for Katy Perry in Australia, it came to the attention of her representatives that Katie Howell, a clothing designer in Australia, had filed an application for trademark protection under a similar name in connection with her own clothing design business. A routine notice letter was sent to Ms. Howell, as is customary in trademark practice, alerting her of Ms. Perry’s intended application.

This is a routine trademark application, and I certainly haven’t sued anyone. As usual, some of the press seems to have delighted in creating a story where there is none.

Of particular note, we find it interesting the little bending of the facts therein, by referring to the designer using her married name, “Katie Howell,” instead of her given name, “Katie Perry” under which she operates her design business. Makes the designer seem a little more nefarious that way, that she was just trying to cash in on the Katheryn Hudson (or “Katy Perry”) name.