The 28-year-old singer can now use her moniker as a trademark on a wide range of products to be sold around Europe, after lawyers in the continent’s top court annulled a previous decision by the EU patent office to limit the scope of her brand on Wednesday (16.06.21).
Miley’s case with the EU courts dates back to 2014, when the ‘Malibu’ hitmaker sought to trademark the name Miley Cyrus through her Smiley Miley Inc. company with the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for audio and video discs, mobile phone cases, e-books, electronic board games, calendars and other goods.
At the time, Miley’s trademark request was challenged by British Virgin Island-based Cyrus Trademarks Ltd, which had registered the mark Cyrus in 2010.
EUIPO sided with Cyrus Trademarks and cited the likelihood of confusion between the two trademarks, and although Miley appealed the decision, her company failed to convince the patent office last year and subsequently took its case to the Luxembourg-based EU Court of Justice (CJEU).
The court overruled EUIPO’s decision this week, dismissing its arguments that the brands could be confused and that the name Miley Cyrus had no conceptual meaning.
In a statement, the CJEU said: “The mark applied for, Miley Cyrus, has a clear and specific semantic content for the relevant public given that it refers to a public figure of international reputation, known by most well-informed, reasonably observant and circumspect persons.”
