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Kylie and Kylie seemingly settle Kylie trademark dispute
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 7 February 2017
Kylie and Kylie have seemingly ended their trademark battle. Who won? Well, Kylie of course. Though, actually, it’s not entirely clear what has occurred here. We know that Kylie is no longing trying to block Kylie. Which suggests Kylie has reached a settlement with Kylie. We’re guessing that means Kylie has made some concessions to Kylie. So we’re calling it a victory for Kylie. Well done, Kylie!
So, to business. A year ago Kylie Minogue lodged a formal objection to attempts by Kylie Jenner to register the trademark in the US for the name ‘Kylie’ for the purposes of ‘advertising services’ and ‘endorsement services’.
Minogue already owns the ‘Kylie’ trademark in the ‘entertainment services’ and ‘music recordings’ categories, and argued that Jenner getting the rights to use the name for fashion and beauty products would confuse the public and dilute the popstar’s brand.
When filing an objection to Jenner’s trademark application with the US Patent And Trademark Office last year, Minogue’s people noted that their client was an international pop artiste, while Jenner – possibly best known as the half-sister of Kim Kardashian – was a “secondary reality television personality” who had courted controversy with her “photographic exhibitionism and controversial posts” on social media.
The US Patent And Trademark Office’s review of Jenner’s trademark application – and Minogue’s objection to it – was seemingly put on hold last year because the two Kylies were in talks in a bid to agree some sort of settlement.
In now transpires, according to the BBC, that last month Minogue withdrew her objection to Jenner’s trademark application. It’s not clear precisely what that means, and neither party has a yet commented, but it’s thought that some deal may have been done.
Jenner has also been trying to trademark her full name – ie Kylie Jenner – for her various fashion products. That trademark application was unsuccessful last year, so it’s possible that she’s decided to focus on appealing that ruling – over which Minogue presumably has no objections – rather than fighting for control of the standalone ‘Kylie’ brand.
But whatever, once again, well done Kylie(s).
