Prince Estate Fires Back Against Apollonia

Photo Credit: Lionel Richie, Apollonia Kotero, and Eddie Murphy at the Purple Rain premiere in 1984 by Ellen Jaskol for The Los Angeles Times / CC by 4.0

The Prince estate says of course Apollonia may use her name, but her registration for a trademark conflicts with the estate’s own for “Apollonia 6.”

The trademark battle between the Prince estate and the late singer’s Purple Rain co-star Apollonia Kotero is heating up. The estate claims Apollonia’s assertion of an “aggressive campaign” to “steal” her name is simply untrue.

In court filings on Wednesday, the estate says it has no intention of stopping Apollonia from using the name Prince bestowed on her—but her trademark conflicts with their own.

The singer and actress, whose real name is Patricia Kotero, was christened “Apollonia” by Prince in the 1980s. In his film Purple Rain, she plays a character of the same name, who sings in a band called Apollonia 6. And therein lies the problem.

Prince’s estate says it only took action against Kotero because her trademark for “Apollonia” was blocking the estate’s own efforts to trademark “Apollonia 6,” the girl group from the film which Kotero led. While her use of the name was granted with the late singer’s blessing, the estate clarifies that the trademark she obtained was granted “during [the] chaotic period following Prince’s death.”

Further, the estate says Kotero has no grounds to sue, as her claims that the estate was threatening her and demanding she give up her name were untrue. “Plaintiff’s case should therefore be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”

“Unfortunately, this is another attack on Apollonia’s name, which will be dealt with in Apollonia’s favor,” said her lawyer, Daniel M. Cislo, in a statement to Billboard.

Prince died of a fentanyl overdose in 2016 without a written will. His assets spent over six years in probate court while heirs and advisors fought over the estate. The valuable Prince estate is now split evenly between Paisley Park Enterprises and another group controlled by Primary Wave. Only Paisley Park Enterprises is involved in the Apollonia dispute.