Australia's Katie Perry lost a legal battle against Katy Perry. This is what she wants you to know.

The fallout continues after Australian designer, Katie Perry, had her trademark result overturned.

Pop star Katy Perry (born Katheryn Hudson) has emerged victorious in a trademark dispute against Sydney fashion designer Katie Jane Taylor (born Katie Perry).

The Federal Court of Australia overturned a previous ruling, and ordered for Taylor's 'Katie Perry' trademark to be deregistered.

After a few days to process the news, Mamamia spoke to the Australian designer to hear her side of the story.

She was stunned that the singer's appeal was successful.

"I burst into tears and was so shocked. I hadn't ever thought that not only was the appeal going to be overturned, but that I would lose my trademark. That just seemed out of the realm of possibility," she told Mamamia.

"There's no sense around it. I think that's what makes it so hard for me to understand."

Since the decision was made by three Federal Court appeal judges — Justices David Yates, Stephen Burley, and Helen Rofe — the designer said she's suffered from abusive rhetoric online.

"I'm getting trolled again, which is just horrible when people are spreading lies. I'm trolled on Instagram and Facebook," she said.  

Something she wanted to make clear was that she was born with the name Katie Perry.

"People have a big thing about that. Is it that weird that I changed my own name to my married name?" she said.

"I've got two little kids, and so when I got married, I was like, 'You know what? I want us to all have the same surname.' Why is that an issue? My birth certificate is Katie Perry. All my friends still know me as Katie Perry."

Katie Perry is keen to set the record straight. Image: Instagram/@katieperry-clothing.

However, the court determined that the singer Katy Perry had used her name as a trademark five years before Taylor started her business.

The judges claimed Taylor's trademark application was filed when she was already aware of the singer's reputation, noting that as "one woman's fame expanded globally, the other became cognisant of her namesake and subsequently filed for a trademark."

This timeline is something the Australian Katie Perry doesn't agree with.

"Basically, I started my own label in 2006 using my own name, which a lot of fashion designers do. I used the name on my birth certificate, Katie Perry, and filed for a trademark."

The singer's first big hit 'I Kissed A Girl' was released in April 2008.

Checking the Australian Government registration records, Katie applied for her trademark in September 2008 and the trademark was published in 2009.

"Then in 2009, the singer actually opposed my trademark," she continued. "We had a battle over it in 2009 and then it was going court."

Katie share a YouTube video asking Katy to allow them both to 'live their dreams'. The singer's team later withdrew their opposition and Katie's trademark was granted.

"Two hours before the court case, they just withdrew the opposition."

But as Katy's star continued to rise, Katie saw an issue with the musician's merchandise encroaching on her designs.

"I would have friends send me photos of pyjamas at Target and shoes in Myer with the brand Katy Perry. And they said, 'Don't you have the trademark for clothes? She's breaching your trademark.' And I was like, 'I'm not in a position to do anything, you know, I'm a small business and I have two little kids'," she admitted.

Through litigation funding, she found a lawyer who told her "let's stick up for Australian law. She is breaching your trademark."

It all came to a head in 2019 when Katie decided "I'm gonna fight for my trademark," and she came out victorious until the verdict was overthrown in last week's appeal.

In the ruling, the judges raised suspicion over the application for Katie's trademark, as it occurred after Katy had become famous, as the singer had already released her first hit song, 'I Kissed A Girl', a debut which Katie said she supported.

"You know what I did when I heard that song? I was like 'Wow, there's a singer out there called Katy Perry', and I bought the song in my way of supporting her," she said.

"It's not like her music is my style of music. So I didn't play the song. The only reason I did it was it was my way of supporting someone who was a singer called Katy Perry. But I never thought I'd be in this position now."

Watch Tina Arena perform with Katy Perry at the 2024 AFL Grand Final. Post continues after video.

Katie didn't see the singer as a competition as they were in different fields.

"I never thought that our world would collide, never. As far as I was concerned, she's a singer,I'm a designer.

"That's what I don't understand: why would I have the psychic ability to think that she was gonna become a big pop star in 2008? She wasn't. She had that one song. Many people just have one song and then you never hear from them again," she continues

"How am I supposed to know that when I started my label, there was going to be a singer who is actually named Katheryn Hudson, and called Katy Perry, that she will come out, that she would be a huge star, and that she would have merchandise?"

The judges ruled that Katy Perry had trademarked her stage name five years before Taylor started her business, and used that trademark "in good faith" during her 2014 Prism Tour that brought her to Australia.

Katie wanted to make clear that while the judges had said Katy Perry started a trademark back in 2002, it wasn't registered for clothes.

"They didn't have a trademark for clothes in Australia. She doesn't have it under clothes. She wasn't allowed to because of mine," she said.

"When she did apply for one, IP Australia knocked her back based on my trademark. She doesn't have a trademark in Australia currently under clothes."

In the ruling, the judges made reference to Katie's refusal to agree to the singer's 'co-existence agreement', even going as far as saying Katie has brought the court verdict 'on herself.'

When I asked if there was any 'coexistence agreement' mentioned, she said "Not in my recollection."

"After I withdrew her trademark, I never heard back from them," she said.

"I'm not sure what this coexistence agreement is. I saw that in the judgment, and I was like, 'What are they talking about?' And that I bought this on myself? I've never bought this on myself. The ridiculous thing is that I'm protecting my business and protecting my trademark and protecting Australian law, and I'm made to be like the bad guy."

As for her relationship with the 'Teenage Dream' singer, it quickly soured over the years.

"I reached out to her and was like, 'You're a singer, I'm a designer. We're both girls just following our dreams. Reach out to me.' And she never did," Katie recalled.

"She wouldn't have anything to do with me, and she said horrible things about me personally. I won't repeat it, but like, if you Google it, you'll see some really horrible things, and that all came out in the court."

When there was a court hearing in February, Katie was disappointed to learn that the singer wouldn't be in attendance despite being in Australia at the time.

"I had a friend call me and she said, 'Do you know Katy Perry is actually in Sydney? And I said, 'What?' She flew in to Sydney, didn't come to court, even though this case has been done in her name. She went to the Taylor Swift concert, which just says everything," Katie said.

Katy Perry attended the Eras Tour for Taylor Swift's Sydney show. Image: Getty.

"I just felt like I'm being constantly slapped in the face, like I don't matter. Other people are more important, and that's not how I live my life. You know, we all matter, whether or not you're a small business or a pop star or a president or a cleaner, we all matter."

With orders to deregister her business name, Katie is unsure of her next steps but is contemplating taking the case to the High Court.

"It's an incredibly harsh judgment. I now have 23 days, it's like a ticking time bomb, 23 days to close, either close my business or rebrand — that's not an easy process, and that's not cheap. It's incredibly expensive. And this is also my busiest time, coming at Christmas season," she added.

"It's pretty overwhelming. I keep telling myself, like take it step by step, day by day."

Despite the considerable trolling and shocking news, Katie is trying to focus on the positives.

"The beauty of it is that I've also seen incredible kindness. The support and emails plus people ordering from me, that's what I'm choosing to focus more on. And that's been really beautiful. I've seen the darkness, but also the light of humanity," she told Mamamia.

"This is an Australian business, it's manufactured here in Sydney, I pay taxes. I've been really let down by the Australian legal system. It's really shocking."

Feature image: Instagram/@katieperry.clothing/Getty.