Value retailer is refuting legal claim over bed linen and cushion lines branded with ‘Kylie’ name.
Home furnishings licensee Ashley Wilde and Kylie Minogue have launched a legal claim against bargain retailer B&M over its use of the name ‘Kylie’ on some of its bed linen products.
The claim says that the products deliberately imitate the Kylie Minogue at Home range made by Ashley Wilde.
The B&M products – initially called Kylie Sparkle and Kylie Boudoir – have now been renamed as Camilla.
However, B&M states that the products were nothing to do with Kylie Minogue and that she couldn’t take ownership of the popular name, and it is refusing to pay £10,000 to get the suit dropped.
A spokesperson for B&M said: “B&M sells tens of millions of pounds worth of home textiles each year, all under B&M’s own homewares brands. The duvet set and cushions in dispute are clearly branded as B&M’s ‘Karina Bailey’ and ‘Mode’ ranges, which are brands owned by B&M.
“We innocently named a duvet set and a cushion ‘Kylie’ but nothing about the packaging makes any reference to Ms Kylie Minogue. There are millions of people called Kylie on the planet, and today the most famous is probably Kylie Jenner who has 100 million Instagram followers (against 1 million for Ms Minogue).
“B&M has decided to take a stand rather than pay £10,000 – because we don’t think a pop star can ‘own’ such a popular first name.”
In 2015, Kylie Jenner attempted to trademark the name ‘Kylie’ in the US, however Kylie Minogue’s team hit back saying that she was a ‘secondary television personality’.
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