Taylor Swift and the life of a showgirl

We recently discussed Taylor Swift seeking to prevent the registration by a third party of a trade mark incorporating SWIFT. This time around, Swift is on the receiving end of a claim for trade mark infringement.

The showgirl and counterparty in this story goes by the name of Maren Wade and she performs a live act called Confessions of a Showgirl. She also has a column and podcast by the same name. Wade has used this brand since 2014 and has registered it as a trade mark.

Wade claims that Taylor Swift’s latest album, Life of a Showgirl, creates the same ‘overall commercial impression’ as her offering, Confessions of a Showgirl. The claim is made that Life of a Showgirl targets the same fan base and competes in overlapping markets and industries. Wade claims that Taylor Swift has infringed her registered trade mark and that there have already been instances of consumer confusion between the two brands.

*Image credit: Wikipedia

In the lawsuit, Maren Wade is seeking a court order (interdict) that will prevent Taylor Swift and her team from ‘profiting on goods and services’ related to Life of a Showgirl. Wade is also seeking an award of financial damages.

We await to how this plays out but, if the reports are correct that the US Patent & Trademark Office rejected Swift’s application to register her album title as a trade mark on the basis of Wade’s prior similar trade mark, it is somewhat surprising that Swift nevertheless moved forward with the name of her album.

Gaelyn Scott

Head of Department | Intellectual Property

gscott@ENSafrica.com