Madonna Sued Over Her Material Girl Clothing Line

By The Editors of StyleList Posted Aug 22nd 2010 08:51PM

Madonna's foray into fashion with her daughter has hit a sudden snag.

Madonna had partnered with daughter Lordes Leon to launch the Material Girl juniors line in partnership with Macy's earlier this summer. According to our partners at RadarOnline.com, the California-based clothing manufacturer L.A. Triumph slapped Madonna with a lawsuit on Aug. 19, claiming it's been using the registered Material Girl name on its own juniors clothing range since 1997, selling the goods in big retailers such as Nordstrom.

In court documents posted on Radar, L.A. Triumph says,"Between 1997 and present day, L.A. Triumph and its predecessor have sold millions of dollars of the Material Girl brand of clothes in commerce throughout the United States and have spent large sums in its promotion and advertisement."

The papers go on to explain that Madonna "improperly filed a United States Trademark Application for the Material Girl mark" in December 2009 and that the pop star's brand is now directly competing with -- and threatens to eclipse -- L.A. Triumph's label of the same name.

Though wasn't it Madonna who coined the term "Material Girl" -- it is her nickname after all -- when she released the 1985 hit song on her second album 'Like a Virgin'?

Video: Madonna Was the Original Material Girl

"Madonna and MGB's clothing line for young women has garnered significant press attention for its risqué advertising campaign," says the statement, referring to these Lourdes-styled ads featuring former "Gossip Girl" star Taylor Momsen.

"Plaintiff's Material Girl clothing line retails at the same general price point and in the same general retail space as the Defendant's infringing clothes."

The lawsuit also hints at next going after retailer Macy's for promoting Madonna's clothing line. Madonna and her team have offered no response. More Madonna Clips on AOL Music >>>

Tags: madonna

Comments

(7)

Sunday 22 August

By Ki Ki

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Maybe she should have had Material Girl Copyrighted when she did the song.

Monday 23 August

By flncgy41

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I know we men have lots of standards to pick up a woman, and there’s one website that can almost meet all our different demands:
(((( D i a m o n d K i s s i n g . c-0-m )))) my bros told me this; it worked for them, it worked for me; and i’m sure it’s gonna work for u, buddy!! ;)

I know we men have lots of standards to pick up a woman, and there’s one website that can almost meet all our different demands:
(((( D i a m o n d K i s s i n g . c-0-m )))) my bros told me this; it worked for them, it worked for me; and i’m sure it’s gonna work for u, buddy!! ;)

By liz

sjhdj

By Bill

This will be a sticky lawsuit.

Madonna's original song didn't say that she was "the" material girl...the lyrics say that she is "a" material girl. Big difference.

And I never actually heard Madonna herself say she is the material girl, but I heard the media use it often when referring to her. And I'm not sure how long after the song came out when they started calling her that, but she probably should have gone for copyright at that time, because that ended up being the title that stuck with her.

By susan

i always thought that marilyn monroe's estate should have sued the POOT out of madonna!

Tuesday 24 August

By BEN GREGO

While never a fan of Madonna's, I did sort of admire her business sense........how could she have been so dumb?? She needs to fire her lawyers or whomever did the research on the use of this name....if indeed anyone researched anything!!! As for the user who says Monroe's estate should sue her, for what? just because she copied a musical number of Monroe's for one of her videos? Nothing unlawful about that; just the sincerest form of flattery!!!!!!!

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