Photo Credit: Taylor Swift (Instagram)
A bedding company that applied for a “Swift Home” trademark has abandoned its application after pressure from Taylor Swift’s legal team.
On Friday, a bedding company that applied for a federal trademark for the name “Swift Home” abandoned its application following legal pressure from Taylor Swift’s legal team.
Swift’s company, TAS Rights Management, wrote to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday that the cursive lettering in the proposed logo too closely resembled the pop megastar’s trademarked signature.
“Our client has not used the disputed mark in commerce,” said Ting Geng, attorney for Cathay Home Inc., on Friday. “After evaluating the circumstances, our client elected not to pursue the registration of a mark it did not consider essential to its business.”
Geng told Reuters that Cathay had previously signed a coexistence agreement with Swift for another “Swift Home” trademark that was not deemed to be at issue.
According to Cathay Home’s website, it sells products through Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Nordstrom, and other retailers. Last year, it applied to register a federal “Swift Home” trademark to cover bedding items such as pillows, sheets, and mattresses.
Swift’s legal team said that the singer owns federal trademarks covering the use of her name on bed linens, clothing, and other products. Cathay’s proposed cursive trademark, they said, would likely mislead consumers into thinking these were products either produced or endorsed by Taylor Swift.
Their filing posited that Cathay Home was purposely attempting to capitalize on the “substantial goodwill and recognition” of the singer’s brand, and pointed out that Swift’s trademarked signature already appears on merch that includes bedding and apparel.
Taylor Swift is no stranger to getting litigious—especially when it comes to her extremely lucrative and legendary brand. The singer has garnered a reputation for tackling anyone who might be trying to profit off her IP, especially sellers on Etsy.
