{"id":570515,"date":"2026-04-07T21:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/570515\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T21:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:30:11","slug":"judge-asked-to-block-merch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/570515\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Asked to Block Merch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTaylor Swift<\/a>\u2019s online merch operation for The Life of a Showgirl is coming under scrutiny in trademark litigation brought by a different \u201cshowgirl\u201d in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\n\tA week after suing Swift<\/a> for infringing her \u201cConfessions of a Showgirl\u201d trademark, performer Maren Wade is now asking a court to bar the pop superstar from selling merch tied to her record-smashing latest album while the lawsuit plays out in court. The request comes in the form of a motion for an immediate injunction, filed on Tuesday (April 7) and obtained by Billboard.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"HOLLYWOOD,<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018Confessions of a Showgirl\u2019 is not one mark among many for plaintiff. It is the only one she has,\u201d reads Wade\u2019s motion. \u201cShe has built her professional identity under it for more than a decade, and she has no portfolio of alternative brands, no corporate backing, and no global marketing operation to compete for consumer attention. Defendants have all of these.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf defendants\u2019 use continues unchecked, the harm is not merely economic,\u201d continued the motion. \u201cIt is the progressive erasure of plaintiff\u2019s ability to be recognized as the source of her own brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWade has owned the trademark \u201cConfessions of a Showgirl\u201d since 2015 for her touring cabaret show about the escapades of a modern-day Las Vegas performer. Swift\u2019s company TAS Rights Management sought to trademark The Life of a Showgirl upon the album\u2019s announcement<\/a> in August, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) preliminarily denied the application due to a likelihood of confusion with Wade\u2019s existing mark.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Wade, this move from federal authorities should have made Swift\u2019s team think twice about selling The Life of a Showgirl merch \u2014 especially since it has a robust intellectual property operation that appreciates the nuances of trademark law and regularly brings enforcement actions of its own<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut after Swift debuted The Life of a Showgirl with a record-breaking 4 million units<\/a> in its first week, she continued to sell products ranging from candles to hairbrushes on a dedicated online storefront for the mega-successful album. As a result, Wade says, \u201cthe confusion the USPTO predicted has materialized.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"LOS<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cConsumers refer to defendants\u2019 album by plaintiff\u2019s mark,\u201d reads Tuesday\u2019s motion. \u201cThey use plaintiff\u2019s trademark as a hashtag for defendants\u2019 products. Eight of ten Google autocomplete results for plaintiff\u2019s exact registered mark now redirect to defendants, and that same search on YouTube returns nine consecutive hits for defendants before a single result for plaintiff. This is textbook reverse confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWade argues that the injunction is necessary right now because the harm to her brand will only increase during the long process of resolving her litigation against Swift. She is solely bringing intellectual property claims as to Swift\u2019s merch operations, not the actual songs on The Life of a Showgirl.<\/p>\n

\n\tWade\u2019s attorney, Jaymie Parkkinen, told Billboard on Tuesday that the case is \u201ca straightforward trademark matter.\u201d He said they had hoped the issue would be resolved after the USPTO denied Swift\u2019s trademark application.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cInstead, defendants continued using the mark without ever contacting us,\u201d added Parkkinen. \u201cWhen someone is told no by the federal government and keeps going anyway, litigation isn\u2019t a choice \u2014 it\u2019s the only option left. Trademark law provides for exactly this kind of relief in exactly this kind of situation. The system only works if it works for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSwift\u2019s reps have not commented on the lawsuit, and they did not immediately return an inquiry about the injunction request on Tuesday. The motion is tentatively set to be heard by a judge in Los Angeles federal court in late May.<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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