Madonna Sued For For Selling Clothes Under 'Material Girl' Brand
from the we-are-living-in-a-trademarked-world... dept
Ah, trademarks. Someone who prefers to remain anonymous sent over the news that Madonna has been sued by a clothing designer for Madonna’s new line of “Material Girl” clothing. Madonna, of course, had a hit song called “Material Girl” and has been referred to as the “Material Girl” for years. However, another company, LA Triumph, actually got the trademark on Material Girl when it comes to clothing, and it’s been using it since 1997.
If you head over to the USPTO, you’ll find that there have been 15 applications for trademarks on “Material Girl” or “Material Girls” (well, and one with “Material Girlz”). Most of the trademark applications are dead, but five live on. They cover a variety of different things, and since most are held by holding companies, it’s a bit tricky to figure out who actually has the rights to what. However, it does seem clear that different companies have applied for, and received, trademarks on “Material Girl(s)” for clothing, cosmetics, personal care products and even a television show. This is a reminder, of course, that when you apply for a trademark, it’s only supposed to cover the specific area in which you’re doing business — which can cause problems in cases, like this one, where people expand into other fields of business.
Filed Under: madonna, material girl, trademark
Comments on “Madonna Sued For For Selling Clothes Under 'Material Girl' Brand”
So much for the “starving artist” spin on new media…
apparently
Madonna is “like a virgin” to the fashion industry.
This seems to be perfectly straight-forward. The company has been actively using the trademark for over ten years, so they should walk away with a judgment quite easily.
Just because she had a song of the same name (which may or may not have been written by someone else anyway) doesn’t entitle her to the phrase in all walks of life, no matter how entitled she feels.
It would seem straight-forward...
unless Madonna wants to use her celebrity clout to cut the value of the trademark to LA Triumph, in which case *they’re* the ones with the problem. It’s a unique leverage, and could be done perfectly legally. I’d say an agreement to ignore the other is a likely outcome.
Meanwhile all the Eddie Munster fans stare at their Lady Gaga posters and sharpen their pitchforks growling softly to themselves.
Poor little rich girl. Wait! Is that a girl or a muscle.
trademark search
I can’t believe no one at Madonna’s company bothered to do a free trademark search online before launching the brand. That’s nuts.
"we-are-living-in-a-trademarked-world"
I just wonder why an artist’s management didn’t pick up on the use of the song title when it’s been collecting revenue in advertising for years? (Including one of the trademark owners)
She should have chosen a more appropriate name for her clothing line
Something on the order of “Stank Ho” or maybe just “Bleach Blond Skank” would be readily identified with her. Dontcha think?
Re: She should have chosen a more appropriate name for her clothing line
Paris Hilton snatched those up a while back…
Re: Re: She should have chosen a more appropriate name for her clothing line
Snatched…get it? Oh, never mind.