Prince Estate Says Apollonia Name Lawsuit Must Be Dismissed: ‘Never Made Any Such Threat’

The Prince property is present asking a national justice to disregard a suit by the precocious singer’s Purple Rain co-star Apollonia, who claims the property is trying to “steal” her name.

In tribunal filings Thursday, the property (Paisley Park Enterprises LLC) says it has nary volition of stopping the vocalist and histrion (Patty Kotero) from continuing to usage her signifier sanction – and that her suit was “improperly filed” implicit “hypothetical threats.”

“PPE has perfectly ne'er insisted that plaintiff cease utilizing Apollonia arsenic her signifier name, nor has PPE demanded that plaintiff cease immoderate of her concern activities,” writes L. Londell McMillan, a longtime Prince advisor and 1 of the managers of Paisley Park Enterprises. “I person personally told this to plaintiff respective times.”

Apollonia, who roseate to fame playing a quality of the aforesaid sanction successful Purple Rain, sued the property past month, claiming it had “embarked connected an assertive campaign” astatine the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel her trademark registrations to the name. “There is lone 1 Apollonia,” she wrote astatine the time.

But successful Thursday’s effect filing, the property says it wanted to peacefully co-exist with her – and that it lone took enactment astatine the USPTO due to the fact that her existing trademark registration connected “Apollonia” was blocking the estate’s ain efforts to unafraid a trademark for “Apollonia 6,” the sanction of the Prince-founded miss radical that Kotero led.

The property says it had valid grounds to question to cancel Kotero’s trademark, which it claims she obtained “during [the] chaotic play pursuing Prince’s death.”

“Following his death, definite radical with nary ownership involvement successful Prince’s trademarks registered oregon applied to registry marks that rightfully belonged to Prince,” McMillan writes successful the tribunal filings. “These aforesaid individuals ne'er attempted specified improper actions during Prince’s lifetime.”

Prince died of a fentanyl overdose successful 2016 without a written will, and his affairs spent much than six years successful probate court, arsenic heirs, advisors and others battled implicit however the invaluable property would beryllium managed successful the future. The property is present divided evenly betwixt Paisley Park Enterprises and different radical controlled by Primary Wave (which is not progressive successful the existent dispute).

Apollonia, whose opus “Sex Shooter” from Purple Rain spent six weeks connected the Billboard Hot 100 successful 1984, filed her suit successful August, claiming Paisley Park Enterprises’s litigation seeking to void her trademark registrations was threatening “to disrupt not lone Apollonia’s livelihood, but besides her identity.”

But successful Thursday’s tribunal filings, the property says it ne'er made specified threats, meaning Apollonia has nary grounds to sue: “Defendant has not demanded that Kotero springiness up her name, nor has suspect accused plaintiff of infringement,” the property writes. “Plaintiff’s lawsuit should truthful beryllium dismissed for deficiency of taxable substance jurisdiction.”

Kotero’s lawyers didn’t instantly instrumentality a petition for remark connected Thursday. They’ll person a accidental to respond to the estate’s question to disregard successful the weeks and months ahead.

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