Apollonia, Co-Star of ‘Purple Rain,’ Sues Prince Estate Over Ownership of Stage Name

Apollonia, best known as a singer-actor-model and Prince protege who co-starred in the 1984 film “Purple Rain,” has taken the late singer’s estate to court over its attempts to cancel her trademarks and claim ownership over the stage name.

Apollonia, whose real name is Patty Kotero, alleged in a suit filed Tuesday and reviewed by Variety that Paisley Park Enterprises “embarked on an aggressive campaign” to take control of the Apollonia name by appealing to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, allegedly claiming Kotero signed over rights to the name as part of her contracts for Purple Rain.

“Now that Prince is deceased, will not stop in its efforts to acquire all things related to Prince even though it has no legal right to do so,” the suit reads. The estate of Prince, who died in April 2016, has been involved in a tangle of lawsuits over ownership of the Purple One’s legacy.

“The statute of limitations for breach of contract expired long ago,” the complaint reads, referencing the Purple Rain contracts assertions, “and neither Prince nor anyone on his behalf ever requested Apollonia cease using her name or demanded she stop using her name on a personal or professional level. Contrary to defendants’ claims before the , Prince and Apollonia were friends, and he wanted her to be successful as Apollonia.”

A rep for the Prince estate did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

Paisley Park and Prince “never enforced their alleged rights and the statute of limitations expired long ago,” the complaint reasserts.

“All of the goodwill associated with the name and trademark ‘Apollonia’ for the past four decades is attributable to plaintiff,” her lawyer Daniel Cislo argues. “There is only one Apollonia, and Apollonia is the source of the goods and services provided under this name. Therefore, to protect her brand, Ms. Kotero owns several ‘Apollonia’ trademark applications and registrations.”

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board documents show that Paisley Park Enterprises filed two cancellation cases against Kotero, one in 2019 and the other in 2021. One has been suspended, the other is awaiting a motion of suspension. “Due to the fact that there are two parallel cancellation proceedings involving the same parties and almost identical marks it is also possible that two different decisions may be issued that cannot be reconciled,” Kotero’s lawyer wrote in a separate Aug. 19 filing.