Taylor Swift Has Over 150 Trademarks and Is Still Building

Taylor Swift's intellectual property strategy goes a lot deeper than the masters saga. While the public watched her re-record her back catalog and eventually buy it back, her legal team was quietly filing trademarks for decades. She now holds more than 150 active trademarks covering her name, initials, most album titles, song titles, lyrics, and phrases like "Swiftie," "Swiftmas," and "Taylor's Version." She even owns the names of her cats.

Her team has filed over 300 applications to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office across her career, more than double what she currently holds. Some expired after their usefulness ran out, like "The 1989 World Tour." Others were abandoned mid-review when the app or project they were tied to was already dead before approval came through.

What Taylor Swift's Trademark Fight Means for Independent Artists

This is not just a pop star flexing. The trademark process is open to any artist, and Swift's portfolio is a masterclass in how to think about your brand as a business asset from day one.

Not every filing goes through. The USPTO rejected her application for "The Archer" because indie label Archer Records already owned the mark. Her recent attempt to trademark "The Life of a Showgirl" for her latest album was preliminarily denied because Las Vegas performer Maren Wade holds "Confessions of a Showgirl." Wade has since filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Swift, which Swift's attorneys are calling "absurd" and "meritless."

Meanwhile, Swift's team has pending applications for "Female Rage: The Musical," "Taylor Swift Taylor's Version," and "Reputation Taylor's Version," the last two being signs that more re-records could be on the way. She has also filed to trademark her voice and likeness, an unusual and largely untested move that appears aimed directly at AI deepfake use cases.

For independent artists, the takeaway is straightforward. Your name, your catchphrases, your album titles, and your brand language are assets. If you are not protecting them, someone else can. A trademark does not require a major label behind you. It requires filing early and being consistent.

Artists like Beyonce, Justin Bieber, and Bad Bunny all hold large trademark portfolios for the same reason. The law gives registered trademark holders real enforcement power, and Swift's team has used it to shut down counterfeit merch operations and unauthorized branding like a "Swift Home" bedding line.

If you are an independent artist building your brand and want to learn more about protecting your work and connecting with a community that takes the business side seriously, check out what we have at [Something Dope For The People](/events) and [submit your project](/submit) to get in front of the right people.

The Swift trademark story is still developing. The "Life of a Showgirl" lawsuit is ongoing, and several pending applications are still moving through the USPTO review process. Watch that space, because however it resolves, it will set a precedent that affects artists at every level.