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Legal
Madonna’s claim to Material Girl trademark not strong, says judge
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 8 September 2011
A legal dispute over the use of the Material Girl brand will proceed to court next month after a judge refused a request by Madonna’s legal reps to make a summary judgement.
A company called LA Triumph sued Madonna after she launched a Material Girl fashion line last year, arguing they had been making Material Girl clothing since 1997 and owned the registered trademark. Madonna’s people asked a judge to dismiss the case against them, arguing that the singer had been associated with the term ‘Material Girl’ since the release of the song of the same name in 1985, and that her businesses had sold over £85 million worth of t-shirts and other products bearing the name over the years.
However, Judge James Otero said there were some fundamental flaws in the arguments of Madonna’s lawyers, namely that releasing a song does not constitute claiming its name as a trademark, and that selling pop merchandise carrying a song’s title does not mean you are trading in the fashion industry using that title as a mark. The judge concluded that the “defendants’ argument that Madonna created the ‘Material Girl’ mark through her performances fails as a matter of law”.
However, Otero will let the case go to court and be heard by a jury. Unless an out of court settlement is now reached, that hearing should take place next month.
