There appears to be bad blood between award-winning music artist Taylor Swift and clothing company Lucky 13, which claims that Taylor Swift and her affiliated companies, such as Taylor Nation LLC and Taylor Swift Productions, Inc., infringed on the registered trademark “Lucky 13.”
A California federal judge ruled on Tuesday that despite her ongoing world tour, Swift will need to create a blank space in her schedule for a deposition. A representative for Swift claimed that Lucky 13 was just trying to cause trouble, stating:
The owner of Lucky 13 wants to harass Taylor into a settlement by forcing her into a deposition knowing full well the disruption it would cause given her ongoing world tour … Lucky 13 does not have any evidence that Taylor was involved in the design of this t-shirt that was a limited-run only for St. Patrick’s Day or the sweepstakes that was a onetime event. Her lack of involvement with anything truly relevant to this lawsuit is apparent.
This love story began with Lucky 13’s complaint, the amended version of which called the situation “a case of ‘Why you gotta be so mean’,” quoting a popular Taylor Swift song. Swift made a motion to dismiss in response, claiming that the lawsuit was simply a move to draw attention to the Lucky 13 brand. The judge denied that motion, reasoning that Lucky 13 had demonstrated a likelihood that consumers might be misled to believe that the brands are related.
The deposition has yet to be scheduled. The trial is currently set to begin in November, however it could be pushed back. Until then, Lucky 13 won’t be just another picture for Swift to burn.