Katy Perry will not give evidence in a new trademark infringement lawsuit against her by Australian fashion designer Katie Jane Taylor, who trades under her maiden name Katie Perry.

Legal trouble between the pair began in 2009, when lawyers acting for the singer, real name Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, opposed Taylor’s trademarking of the name Katie Perry to represent her own clothing name – despite it being her birth name.

In July of that year, Hudson’s legal team dropped their opposition to the trademark at a hearing at Intellectual Property Australia.

Last year, Taylor initiated legal proceedings against the singer for selling clothes in Australia that with a name that is “substantially identical with, or deceptively similar to” her trademark.

The products sold by the singer span a wide range of merchandise that the defence says is not within the scope of the case, but did specify certain items which they believe are: cat-ear headbands and a Katy Perry “Special Edition X-Large Pizza Box Kit” comprised of pizza-themed pyjamas, pizza slice necklaces and a pencil case.

The Australian Federal Court heard yesterday (November 12) that Hudson would not give evidence or appear in court – instead, her manager Steve Jensen, from talent agency DMG will appear on her behalf.

Hudson’s defence says they used the name Katy Perry in “good faith”, and made the counter-claim that Taylor’s trademark is liable to be cancelled because the singer had already accrued a reputation in Australia prior to the registration of the designer’s trademark.

The hearing for the case has been scheduled for November 2021.