Partner Claire Breheny has been featured in “Who owns a name? Katy Perry, Estée Lauder and Jo Malone test rights” by the World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR).
The article emphasises the tensions which can arise between personal identity and trade marks, delving into two recent developments in trade mark disputes: Katy Perry losing against fashion designer Katie Taylor (born Katie Perry) and Estée Lauder filing a claim against Jo Malone over the use of her name in a collaboration with Zara.
Claire’s commentary contributes to the common debate, which is particularly relevant to celebrity branding, over who owns a name, highlighting how the own-name defence in the Trade Marks Act 1994 can be overridden by contractual obligations.
Read the article in full here.
