Lily Allen files trade mark for West End Girl

At the end of last year, Lily Allen released West End Girl, her first new album in seven years. The title references London’s theatre district and reflects the singer’s time away from the studio, during which she performed in a West End play.

The album is said to explore Lily’s emotional wounds following her divorce from Stranger Things actor David Harbour. Reportedly, she wrote the songs in just ten days, and in a recent interview, she hinted that she may adapt the album into a stage play in London, which is a clever move in my opinion, given the album's title.

Ahead of her UK tour starting in March, Lily has done her trade mark homework: she filed a new application for the plain word mark WEST END GIRL in the UK.

She has sought protection for this mark in five different classes of goods, covering, among others, sunglasses, clothing, cosmetics, bags, and jewellery. Surprisingly, there is no coverage for musical recordings, especially since Class 9 (where these belong) was included anyway.

Although Lily has ventured into other professions, it seems unlikely that she will personally launch a shop to sell these products covered by her application. Rather, she is seeking monopoly rights in the use of WEST END GIRL for merchandise.  

She will be able to license the right to use the mark to third parties of her choice and control who offers WEST END GIRL branded products to the public.  This trade mark registration will also provide Lily with a trade mark right, which may be relied upon against unauthorised use.

“So why can Lily Allen monopolise the use of WEST END GIRL, when ‘West End’ is such a famous theatre district in London?” some may wonder. 

The answer: in the context of the goods covered by Lily’s application, West End has no direct descriptive meaning or geographical significance. Therefore, it can serve as an indicator of the commercial origin of the products, which is the essential function of a trade mark.

Her trade mark application has now been published, and unless a third party opposes it, WEST END GIRL will (potentially, subject to the UK IPO's workload) attain registration just before Lily returns to the UK stage to perform her new divorce-themed songs. 

Trade marks are territorial rights and so, as a global pop star, it will be interesting to see whether Lily seeks international protection for WEST END GIRL, using her UK trade mark as a “home” registration for an international application. With my trade mark attorney hat on, I can see real merit in doing so!