{"id":7480,"date":"2025-08-22T21:00:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T21:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/prince-estate-responds-to-apollonia-lawsuit-highly-unreasonable\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T21:00:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T21:00:36","slug":"prince-estate-responds-to-apollonia-lawsuit-highly-unreasonable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/prince-estate-responds-to-apollonia-lawsuit-highly-unreasonable\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Estate Responds to Apollonia Lawsuit: \u2018Highly Unreasonable\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tP<\/span>rince\u2019s estate has fired back at claims that it\u2019s trying to steal the identity of Purple Rain <\/em>co-star Apollonia, calling the singer\u2019s lawsuit \u201cfrivolous\u201d and saying it never tried to stop her from using the stage name. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA Thursday (Aug. 21) post<\/a> by the official Prince Instagram account is the estate\u2019s first public comment since Apollonia (Patty Kotero) brought a federal lawsuit earlier this week. Apollonia, who\u2019s best known for playing a character of the same name in Prince\u2019s 1984 film Purple Rain<\/em>, alleges the estate is unlawfully trying stop her from using the moniker via trademark cancellation proceedings.<\/p>\n

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\n\tPrince\u2019s estate writes in the Instagram post that contrary to Apollonia\u2019s allegations, it \u201cnever instructed her to cease using her adopted professional name.\u201d The estate says it merely wants to \u201cpreserve Prince\u2019s assets and legacy,\u201d since the pop icon came up with the name \u201cApollonia\u201d for the Purple Rain<\/em> movie.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMs. Kotero\u2019s unwarranted lawsuit comes at the tail end of years-long disputes before the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board concerning trademark registrations, in which rulings are imminent and with respect to which we have sought a settlement numerous times despite her highly unreasonable demands,\u201d writes Prince\u2019s estate. \u201cUnsurprisingly, her suit fails to acknowledge the cancellation of her \u2018Apollonia\u2019 registration by the United States Patent & Trademark Office.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe look forward to the rulings in the pending trademark proceedings and a dismissal of Ms. Kotero\u2019s recent federal action,\u201d adds the estate.<\/p>\n

\n\tApollonia\u2019s lawyers did not return a request for comment on the estate\u2019s Instagram post on Friday (Aug. 22).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Instagram statement echoes arguments that Prince\u2019s estate has previously made to regulators at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). In legal filings submitted for those proceedings, the estate says it\u2019s fine with Apollonia using this moniker as a stage name but that the trademark itself belongs to Prince\u2019s heirs.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe estate points out in TTAB filings that the \u201cApollonia\u201d trademark is primarily tied to the girl group Apollonia 6 featured in Purple Rain<\/em>, whose song from the movie, \u201cSex Shooter,\u201d became a Billboard Hot 100 hit and spent six weeks on the chart.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2019Apollonia 6\u2019 remains part of American culture through the continued, uninterrupted exploitation of the film Purple Rain<\/em> and public performances of the Apollonia 6 sound recordings and videos,\u201d the estate says in a TTAB filing from this past May. \u201cThe goodwill developed by [Prince] endures, and the \u2018Apollonia 6\u2019 mark continues to be recognized as a source identifier for the man who created and produced the group, Prince.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n