After eight years of legal skirmishing, one of the more unusual trademark disputes in music history is finally over.
The Prince estate and singer Apollonia, born Patty Kotero, both withdrew their dueling trademark cases against each other on Wednesday (April 8), with attorney Daniel Cislo confirming to Billboard that the matter has been confidentially settled. A hearing on the estate’s motion to dismiss had been scheduled for this Friday (April 10) in Los Angeles before the resolution was reached.
“Apollonia is very happy with the results, and that the parties can continue to honor the legacy of Prince and his musical genius,” said Cislo. “In a time of so much conflict, it is very good to see people coming together to resolve their dispute.”
The dispute traces back to 2018, two years after Prince’s death by accidental fentanyl overdose. His estate, managed by Paisley Park Enterprises, filed paperwork to trademark “Apollonia 6,” the name of the Prince-founded girl group that Apollonia led in the 1984 film Purple Rain. The application was rejected because Apollonia herself already owned the intellectual property. Rather than accept that outcome, the estate petitioned the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel her ownership, triggering years of parallel proceedings at the trademark office and eventually a federal lawsuit.
Apollonia filed that suit last August, accusing the estate of embarking on an “aggressive campaign” to seize control of her name and alleging that Paisley Park “will not stop in its efforts to acquire all things related to Prince even though it has no legal right to do so,” according to Rolling Stone. She argued that Prince himself had encouraged her to continue using and performing under the Apollonia name, citing a face-to-face meeting two months before his death in 2016 where he was “adamant” she should keep the name for music, merchandise, and audiovisual projects. She said Prince “would be appalled” by the estate’s conduct.
The estate called the lawsuit “frivolous” and countered that it had never told Apollonia to stop using her professional name, framing its trademark efforts as an attempt to preserve Prince’s assets and legacy rather than dispossess her. In-person settlement talks in December failed to resolve things, and both sides continued maneuvering ahead of the Friday hearing before the settlement was reached.
Under the terms of the resolution, the estate dropped its trademark cancellation petition, one of the explicit conditions Apollonia had sought in her lawsuit. Both sides will bear their own legal fees and costs, according to court filings. Whether any financial payments were included or whether the settlement establishes ground rules for the future use of the Apollonia name remains unclear, as the terms are confidential.
This is not the first time the Prince estate has clashed with an artist over a Prince-created name. As the Star Tribune reported, Morris Day faced a similar situation in 2022 when the estate challenged his right to use “the Time,” the group name Prince created. That dispute also ended in settlement, with Day continuing to perform as Morris Day & the Time. The pattern illustrates a recurring tension in how Prince’s estate has approached legacy management since his death without a will in April 2016.
That lack of a will set the stage for years of probate court infighting among Prince’s six siblings before Paisley Park’s assets were split in 2022 between his heirs and an entity controlled by Primary Wave. The estate has since pursued an aggressive strategy of acquiring and protecting intellectual property connected to Prince’s name and work, a strategy that has generated legal friction with multiple collaborators from his career.
Apollonia rose to fame playing Prince’s love interest in Purple Rain, and her song from the film, “Sex Shooter,” spent six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. In the decades since, she has built a career under the Apollonia name through music releases, acting roles, and a podcast. The settlement ensures she keeps it.
