Victory for Lady Gaga in IP case against Lady Goo Goo

Published on 28 Oct 2011 under category: legal

In the High Court last week pop superstar Lady Gaga obtained an injunction preventing a computer game company from releasing a single by a cartoon character.

Lady Gaga’s rights-holding vehicle Ate My Heart sought the injunction against gaming company Mind Candy after it created a character called Lady Goo Goo in an online game called Moshi Monsters. In the game Lady Goo Goo performed a song called ’Peppy-razzi’, which Mind Candy released in videos on YouTube and planned to sell on iTunes.

Lady Gaga claimed that Mind Candy had infringed her trademark, and that there was a real risk of confusion between herself and Lady Goo Goo, particularly by children.

An interim injunction was granted, preventing Mind Candy from posting more videos of Lady Goo Goo’s song on YouTube or selling it on iTunes. However, the character can still continue to appear in Moshi Monsters.

David Salamons, Cubism Law's IP and Licensing Lawyer commented:

‘the case might seem amusing at face value but shows all too well how clients need to be ever more vigilant in protecting their trademarks and Intellectual Property from inappropriate use over the internet and via new digital channels. The higher the value of your brand the greater the chance that someone will attempt to hijack it and monetise it for their own benefit. Companies with high value brand properties need to have effective systems in place to regularly check for brand piracy and meet such actions with a robust legal response if they don’t want to lose revenues.’

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