Taylor Swift's 'Evermore' challenged by theme park owner

The release of Taylor Swift’s most recent album, Evermore, has led to a trade mark infringement dispute with a Utah based theme park that shares the same name, in the latest IP dispute involving the singer.

The owners of the theme park allege that the release of Swift’s album confused visitors, with many mistakenly thinking the album was affiliated with the park. It is claimed that Swift’s marketing of the album uses the same themes as those used to promote the park, with the claimants alleging that their exclusive trade mark rights had been violated when Swift began selling merchandise branded with the album title. Lawyers acting for Swift are firm in their stance that the Evermore album is distinct from the theme park, with it being “inconceivable” that the branding of the album could be confused with that of the park.

It is claimed by the park owners that the release of the album resulted in a significant downturn in interactions with their website, partly attributed to a reduction of their prominence in Google searches. Swift’s attorneys oppose this, stating that although some inconvenience had occurred, this had not resulted in any damages to the claimant, and Swift’s album had presented a “marketing opportunity” for the theme park to monetise.

The theme park owners are seeking an injunction banning Swift from using the name, and damages for the alleged trade mark infringement. The case continues to be covered in the media, with a settlement yet to be reached.

For advice or help with any aspect of trade mark law, please get in touch with the ip21 team.

Jasmine Percival, PhD (Biology) student and Intern for ip21 Ltd