{"id":3854,"date":"2017-11-19T11:59:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-18T22:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/celebrity-trade-marks-a-kardashian-case-study\/"},"modified":"2017-11-19T11:59:20","modified_gmt":"2017-11-18T22:59:20","slug":"celebrity-trade-marks-a-kardashian-case-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/intl\/celebrity-trade-marks-a-kardashian-case-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrity trade marks: a Kardashian case study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Trade marks are trending with celebrities \u2013 and they are keen to pursue protection in Australia:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paris Hilton tried unsuccessfully for many years to register THAT\u2019S HOT in respect of classes 3, 4, 14 and 25 (1039210, 1184612, 1281365);<\/li>\n<li>Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) lodged a convention application for his stylised Australian trade mark for 50 Cent in 2003 in relation to classes 9, 25 and 41 (949000); and,<\/li>\n<li>Donald J. Trump, President of the USA, has 7 trademarks in Australia including 4 directed to the wordmark TRUMP (1137970, 1239747 (expired \u2013 renewal possible), 1433269, 1486784) in classes ranging from real estate services (36) to provision of golfing facilities (41).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Indeed, according to the\u00a0Harvard Business Review, licensing brings in billions in revenue for the largest global licensors.<\/p>\n<p>The Kardashians \u2013\u00a0one of the most successful TV reality families of all time \u2013 are no stranger to trade marking and licensing arrangements.\u00a0 In Australia alone,\u00a0Kimsaprincess Inc\u00a0(Kim Kardashian\u2019s company) is the owner of\u00a012 registered marks\u00a0including KIM KARDASHIAN, DASHING, KIMOJI relating to goods and services from fragrance (3) to wireless electronic transmission of graphics (38).\u00a0 Sisters Khloe (KhloMoney) and Kourtney (2Die4Kourt) also have various marks, as do Kylie (Kylie Jenner, Inc.) and Kendall Jenner (Kendall Jenner, Inc.).<\/p>\n<p>But what can be gleaned from the Kardashian Australian trade mark filings?\u00a0\u00a0The following examines three takeaways framed by the Kardashian case study.<\/p>\n<h6>1. Consequences of joint ownership<\/h6>\n<p>KARDASHIAN KOLLECTION\u00a0and\u00a0KARDASHIAN ESSENTIALS\u00a0are jointly owned marks by Kimsaprincess, KhloMoney and 2Die4Kourt.\u00a0KENDALL + KYLIE\u00a0is owned by Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner. Therefore \u2013 each of these marks is jointly owned.<\/p>\n<p>Section 28 of the Trade Marks Act 1995\u00a0states that if 2 or more persons interested in a trade mark are not entitled to use, except on behalf of all of them or in relation to goods and\/or services with which all of them are connected in the course of trade; then an application for joint ownership may be made under\u00a0subsection 27(1).\u00a0This means that an application can only be made if neither of the parties can exploit the mark alone \u2013 you are essentially a single person \u2013 and can only do so on behalf of all of them, and in relation to goods\/services which they are all connected.<\/p>\n<p>For the Kardashian marks \u2013 such as KARDASHIAN ESSENTIALS \u2013 to be entitled for use this must benefit all within the joint ownership and in this case be in relation to classes 9 and 25 (eyewear, hoistery or shapewear). For licensing or assignment \u2013 they all have to provide consent (this could be important for merchandising, distribution, etc)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key takeaway\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 carefully consider the consequences of joint ownership of trade marks before entering into this type of arrangement \u2013 speak to a professional.<\/p>\n<h6>2. Registrability of a Name<\/h6>\n<p>Section 41 of the Trade Marks Act 1995\u00a0requires an application be rejected if it has no inherent capability to distinguish to goods or services for which the application is sought. Kimsaprincess Inc is the current owner of mark\u00a0KIM KARDASHIAN\u00a0\u2013 a first and surname.\u00a0 Kim also has registered protection for her initials\u00a0KKW.\u00a0 Both marks are in relation to class 3 (including fragrances). In terms of whether a surname, name or initials have inherent capability to distinguish,\u00a0IP Australia\u2019s Examiner\u2019s Manual\u00a0offers some guidance. For surnames only \u2013 the commonness of the surname is used as an indicator for its inherent adaptation to distinguish. The addition of a first name and surname increases the likelihood it is capable of distinguishing the goods or services \u2013 unless the name as a whole is common (JOHN SMITH) and the goods and services are common<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key takeaway:<\/strong>\u00a0to register a mark it must be inherently capable of distinguishing the goods or services.\u00a0 It is possible to register a name \u2013 but less likely the more common the name is.<\/p>\n<h6>3. Conflicting Marks<\/h6>\n<p>Section 44 of the Trade Marks Act 1995\u00a0states that an application must be rejected if the applicant\u2019s mark is substantially identical or deceptively similar to a mark registered by another person in respect of similar goods or closely related services. Kylie Jenner attempted to register the marks\u00a0KYLIE\u00a0and\u00a0KYLIE COSMETICS\u00a0via Convention applications lodged in September 2015 and February 2016 respectively.<\/p>\n<p>KYLIE stipulated classes 35 and 41 (advertising services and entertainment), and KYLIE COSMETICS was applied for in respect of goods and services in classes 3 and 35 (cosmetics and retail stores featuring cosmetics and beauty products). According to\u00a0IP Australia, these applications were eventually withdrawn after the issuance of adverse examination reports. While details of the adverse reports issued have not been obtained, a search of the register does reveal the trade mark KYLIE is registered in respect of classes 3, 4, 9, 14, 16, 25, 28, 41 by Kylie Minogue (KDB Pty Ltd). Whether these existing KYLIE marks blocked the registration of Kylie Jenner\u2019s marks or not is up for speculation. But \u2013 this does highlight the importance of conducting clearance searches prior to incurring the cost of filing a trade mark application \u2013 only to find an existing mark on the Register is blocking your registration.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key takeaway:\u00a0<\/strong>Conduct clearance searches of the same and similar mark in the same and closely related classes \u2013 as well as using Google, etc.\u00a0 Seek professional advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trade marks are trending with celebrities \u2013 and they are keen to pursue protection in Australia: Paris Hilton tried unsuccessfully for many years to register THAT\u2019S HOT in respect of classes 3, 4, 14 and 25 (1039210, 1184612, 1281365); Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) lodged a convention application for his stylised Australian trade mark for&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"class_list":["post-3854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trade-marks-intl","insight-resource-articles-intl"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Celebrity trade marks: a Kardashian case study - James &amp; 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