Kylie Minogue Voiced Out After Winning Kylie Jenner Trademark Battle
Kylie Minogue has spoken out about her legal battle with Kylie Jenner over the latter’s bid to trademark their shared first name.
Minogue, 49, told Rolling Stone that ‘it was nothing personal at all.
Minogue told the site:
‘I’ve never met Kylie Jenner. I’ve never met any member of the family – actually, I’ve met Kendall just in passing at a fashion event – but I honestly don’t know them.’
‘It’s awkward, because fans get so loyal and vocal, and we love that! But it was nothing personal at all, I’m at pains to say. ‘Trademark is long, it’s boring, it’s expensive, and it’s really important. I’ve been doing that for years and years. It was just causing confusion with customers. As long as it’s clear, then we can all win.’
Jenner filed to trademark: ‘KYLIE’ in 2015, according to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records cited by the BBC.
Minogue’s KDB Pty Ltd. put in an opposition in 2016, calling the singer an ‘internationally renowned performing artist, humanitarian, and breast cancer activist’ and pointing out she is ‘known worldwide simply as: “Kylie.”
The opposition expressed worry that Minogue – who has owned www.kylie.com since 1996, and whose 1988 debut album was entitled KYLIE – would be ‘damaged’ if Jenner’s copyright application succeeded.
This filing also dismissed Jenner as ‘a secondary reality television personality who appeared on the television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians as a supporting character.
It said further that Jenner’s ‘photographic exhibitionism and controversial posts have drawn criticism from, e.g., the Disability Rights and African-American communities.’
In her recent Rolling Stone interview, Minogue conveyed regret that her legal team used such harsh language about Jenner.
She considered it ‘upsetting’ that the offending lines were ‘attributed to’ her.
‘Can you imagine me saying that?! That was just unfortunate that that is how those lawyers speak. So I genuinely hope that it’s understood: That certainly did not come from me,’ Minogue explained.
‘Good news is, that’s all wrapped up, we didn’t have to go to court. That’s all done. And I’m sure I’ll meet them one day. The weird thing is, in America, when I am there, they would never introduce me just as “Kylie”; it’s still “Kylie Minogue.” It took so long for people to get my name in the first place. “Kyle?” “No, Kyle-E!” ‘
