Taylor Swift is being sued for alleged trademark infringement by a Las Vegas performer.<\/p>\n
Maren Wade claims that\u00a0the branding of Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl<\/em>, threatens to “drown out” her ‘Confessions of a Showgirl’ stage show, Reuters<\/em><\/a> first reported.<\/p>\n The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Monday (March 30), names four defendants: Swift, TAS Rights Management, UMG Recordings, and UMG’s merch company Bravado.<\/p>\n Wade’s brand originated as a column for Las Vegas Weekly beginning in 2014.<\/p>\n That column evolved into a touring stage show featuring what the complaint describes as “candid and often humorous accounts of the challenges and absurdities of a career in the entertainment industry, from getting stuck inside a giant birthday cake to impersonating a Madonna impersonator.”<\/p>\n The complaint says that Wade has held a federal trademark on CONFESSIONS OF A SHOWGIRL since 2015.<\/p>\n The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued<\/a> an initial refusal of Swift’s application to register THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL as a trademark last year, citing potential confusion with Wade’s pre-existing mark. The application was also suspended over a separate conflict with an unrelated trademark filing.<\/p>\n The Life of a Showgirl<\/em>, Swift’s twelfth studio album, was released in October and shattered US sales records<\/a>, selling 4 million equivalent album units in its first week in the US and 5.5 million globally.<\/p>\n Wade alleges that Swift’s continued use of the name “drowns out” her trademark “until consumers begin to assume that the original is the imitation.”<\/p>\n The complaint states: “What Plaintiff had built over twelve years, Defendants threatened to swallow in weeks.”<\/p>\n According to the filing, Wade is seeking a court order blocking Swift’s use of the branding, along with disgorgement of profits, treble damages, and attorneys’ fees.<\/p>\n