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Apollonia Sues Prince Estate to Keep Rights to Her Name

The case contests the estate’s recent USPTO effort to assert the Apollonia trademark.

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images
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Overview

  • Patricia Apollonia Kotero filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles seeking a declaration that she owns the APOLLONIA marks and protection from enforcement by Prince’s estate.
  • In June, Paisley Park Enterprises filed an intent-to-use application for Apollonia covering clothing and entertainment services and moved to cancel Kotero’s registrations before the USPTO and TTAB.
  • Kotero cites four decades of professional use, Prince’s consent and encouragement, and her 2016 and 2018 trademark registrations for Apollonia and Apollonia 6.
  • The estate has reportedly pointed to 1983–84 contracts to claim ownership, while Kotero argues any such rights were never enforced and are barred by waiver, acquiescence, and laches.
  • The estate, co-managed since 2022 by Prince Legacy LLC and Primary Wave, has not publicly commented; a similar 2022 dispute with Morris Day over The Time ended in a settlement allowing him to keep performing under that name.