Kylie Minogue on trademark battle with Kylie Jenner over their name: ‘It had to be done’

Images Instagrammed by (L) @kylieminogue and (R) @kyliejenner

Kylie Minogue has opened up about her legal dispute with Kylie Jenner over the trademarking of their shared first name.

In 2017, Minogue successfully blocked Jenner from trademarking the name “Kylie” for her then-soon-to-launched beauty brand. Appearing on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live on Tuesday, the Australian singer-songwriter opened up about the legal row.

When asked about the trademark battle by a caller on the show, Kylie Minogue, 54, laughed and said, "It was just business, obviously."

"Look, when I was named Kylie, I think I met one person older than me called Kylie. So it's kind of unusual," she said.

"I've spent a lifetime protecting my brand and building my brand, so it was just something that had to be done.

"But let me also say… we came to an agreement," Minogue told host Andy Cohen.

Kylie Jenner first applied to trademark her name for "advertising" and "endorsement services” in 2014, reports People magazine. This was a year before she launched her makeup brand Kylie Cosmetics, which is now valued at $1 billion and has turned the reality TV star into a billionaire beauty mogul.

A few months later, Minogue filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block Jenner from trademarking the name, noting that she had been using the name “Kylie” to sell clothes, perfumes and other products for years and that “confusion” could arise if Jenner proceeded to trademark the name.

The lawsuit also noted that Minogue had owned the website “kylie.com” since August 1996 – a year before Jenner was even born.

The U.S. Parent and Trademark Office rejected Kylie Jenner’s trademark application in 2017. Jenner, 24, has never spoken about the incident, but Minogue opened up about it in 2018 in an interview with Rolling Stone.

"It's awkward, because fans get so loyal and vocal, and we love that! But it was nothing personal at all, I'm at pains to say," she said of her legal battle with Jenner.