Mention a lawsuit involving Patricia Kotero, and most, if not all, will respond with a puzzled look. Trying the same thing with the name Apollonia instead will garner much more recognition, at least from those in Generation X.
Best known for her starring role next to Prince in 1984's "Purple Rain," Apollonia built a career in TV, movies, music, and podcasting using her unique moniker. She now finds herself filing a complaint to keep Paisley Park Enterprises LLC, the purported estate of Prince Rogers Nelson (Prince), from blocking her trademark applications and imposing its own.
Apollonia argues that she's used the name for 40 years and that Prince fully supported her career before his untimely demise in 2016. She's seeking to have Paisley Park's claims against her trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) dismissed and for the California court to issue an injunction barring them from trying to block her use of Apollonia in the future.
Out With the Vanity, in With the Apollonia
Born as Patricia Kotero, Patty dropped out of high school at 16 to pursue a career in Hollywood. After winning a beauty contest and a stint as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Rams, she began to accumulate appearances on popular TV shows of the time like Fantasy Island, Knight Rider, and CHiPs.
Her big break came when actress Vanity left her three-woman band, Vanity 6, while the movie Purple Rain was in pre-production. After winning the movie's lead female role opposite Prince, Patty became Apollonia, and Vanity 6 became Apollonia 6. As she was not a trained singer, Lisa Coleman, a member of Prince and the Revolution, doubled her vocals on some of the movie's songs.
Propelled by a Grammy and Academy Award-winning soundtrack, "Purple Rain" became a surprise hit and propelled Apollonia into the public eye. She stayed with Apollonia 6 for another year or so and claimed to have co-written "Manic Monday" with Prince, which became a massive hit for the Bangles. It should be noted that this claim has never been verified.
In 1985, Apollonia left Apollonia 6 and went out on her own for acting roles. In 1988, she released "Apollonia," a solo album. She later mixed acting roles with starting her own multimedia entertainment company in 2005. In 2022, she started a YouTube podcast called Apollonia Studio 6, which features acting and musical guests.
Is This What It Sounds Like When Doves Cry?
Apollonia filed applications with the USPTO in 2016 for Apollonia 6 and in 2018 for Apollonia. Both claimed a start point of 1984 and requested a trademark for entertainment services, noting that she'd been using the name as her public persona for 40 years. They became registered trademarks in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
In her filing, she points out that a 2017 inventory of Prince's estate does not list either Apollonia or Apollonia 6 among the 37 trademarks claimed. Paisley Park filed for trademark registration in late 2018 for Apollonia 6, but was refused by the USPTO due to the existing trademark and because Apollonia was a person and a performer.
Undaunted, Paisley Park responded in 2019 by filing a pair of petitions to cancel with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to address the trademarks given to Apollonia. It claims that the groups involved in an agreement signed between Apollonia and Prince in 1984 are predecessors-in-interest to Paisley Park. This, it argues, means they hold the true trademark rights and that Apollonia's should be cancelled.
In her complaint, Apollonia notes that any statutes of limitations for breach of contract would have long since expired and that Prince never asked her to stop using the Apollonia name. In asking for equitable doctrines of waiver and acquiescence, Apollonia is requesting that Paisley Park's claims be quashed and an injunction put in place to end the matter for good. Receiving that type of ruling might make her "Delirious" indeed.
Related Resources
- What Is an Injunction? When Can You Get One? (findLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Intellectual Property Law (FindLaw's Learn About the Law)
- What Are Statutes of Limitations (FindLaw's Filing a Lawsuit)
