Taylor Swift faces trademark lawsuit over 'The Life of a Showgirl'

Maren Wade filed a lawsuit on Monday, March 30, in California federal court claiming trademark infringement, false designation and unfair competition against Swift, seeking damages and ban on the use of the name.

Pop mega star Taylor Swift has found herself in a legal trouble as her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, has sparked a lawsuit from a writer, according to reports.

Maren Wade filed a lawsuit on Monday, March 30, in California federal court claiming trademark infringement, false designation and unfair competition against Swift and UMG Recordings. 

Wade is seeking unspecified damages and a court order restricting the Lover hitmaker from continuing to use the name of her chart-topping album.

Jaymie Parkkinen, a lawyer for Wade, said in a statement to THR, "A solo performer who spent twelve years building a brand shouldn’t have to watch it disappear because someone bigger came along."

Wade, who featured in America's Got Talent, started penning a column titled Confessions of a Showgirl for the Las Vegas Weekly in 2014.

In the column, Wade wrote her experiences as a performer in the entertainment business. Since then, it has evolved into a podcast and a live show with jazz and pop music.

Poster of The Life of a Showgirl

The name of Swift's album The Life of a Showgirl closely resembles Wade's trademark name, which according to Wade, is an intentional disregard.

“Within weeks, the designation was affixed to consumer goods, stamped onto labels, tags, and packaging, and deployed as a source identifier across retail channels — all directed at the same audience Plaintiff had spent years cultivating,” the complaint reads, according to THR.

The lawsuit also claims that a trademark was declined by the US Patent and Trademark Office for Swift's album because it was confusingly similar to Wade’s mark because they both share "of a Showgirl" in their names. The use of both the names in the entertainment industry involving music and theatre can further confuse people and they might believe there's a connection between the two, when there's not any, the lawsuit claimed.

"Both share the same structure, the same dominant phrase, and the same overall commercial impression," the lawsuit said.

"Both are used in overlapping markets and are directed at the same consumers."

The Life of a Showgirl was released in October and sold 4 million copies in its first week. It is Swift's 12th studio album.

The album became all the more special for Swifties because the princess of Pop announced it in a surprise appearance in NFL tight end and her then-boyfriend and now fiance Travis Kelce's podcast that too at a time when the couple's relationship was highly speculated.

Swift, who stays far away from controversies, is reportedly set to marry Kelce in an intimate ceremony on June 13 in Rhode Island.