Apollonia Says the Prince Estate Is Trying To Steal Her Name

Former Prince collaborator Apollonia has launched a lawsuit against the musician’s estate, claiming it it trying to “steal” the name she’s used for four decades.

Apollonia – full name Patricia Apollonia Kotero – responded to a trademarking attempt with a 14-page complaint filed in a Los Angeles federal court, Rolling Stone reported.

The paperwork said that Prince’s estate tried to register her name in June, aiming to reserve its use for commercial purposes and therefore making it illegal for her to do so.

Accusing the corporation of preparing to risk “public confusion,” she said she’d been using “Apollonia” ever since co-starring in 1984 movie Purple Rain as the character of the same name.

She said Prince never “contended that the name did not belong to her, either personally or professionally,” adding: “In fact, Prince himself consented to and encouraged Apollonia in her professional endeavors as ‘Apollonia.’

“If ever the fundamental principles of fairness – waiver, acquiescence, and laches – apply, they apply here.”

Prince Never Enforced Apollonia Name Rights, She Says

The lawsuit contended: “All of the goodwill associated with the name and trademark ‘Apollonia’ for the past four decades is attributable to plaintiff. There is only one Apollonia, and Apollonia is the source of the goods and services provided under this name.”

The estate, her lawsuit claimed, had taken the position that a 1983 contract for the movie included a waiver over all rights to the name. However, she contended, the waiver was “never enforced” and so any such rights had expired “long ago.”

Among the other examples used to cite her claim over the title, she noted that she’d remained “lifelong friends” with Prince, toured using the name, released a 1988 solo album with that title, and was credited with it as an actress in the '80s TV show Falcon Crest.