05/11/2025
As the new season of Drag Race UK gets underway, a new round of drag queens come into the spotlight, and with them a host of stage names up for international publicity and potential scrutiny.
The recent battle involving US Drag Race’s Season 17 finalist, Clair Barnes over the stage name Lexi Love has foregrounded the challenges trade mark infringement allegations can bring. Barnes, who had performed under the stage name Lexi Love for nearly a decade, was called to account in August this year by Selena Scola, the registered owner of the Lexi Love trade mark in the US. Scola began using Lexi Love in 2004, and registered the name as a trade mark in 2008. Though the registration of that mark was cancelled for non-use in 2022, and therefore may not have been found in any searches, Scola re-registered it in March 2025. With this legal backing, Scola publicly issued a cease-and-desist addressed to Barnes on the grounds of reputational damage and trade mark infringement. In it, she demanded that Barnes take down her Lexi Love accounts across social media and music streaming services. With no trade mark protection of her own, Barnes has been left in a challenging position. The press are reporting that she now faces a major re-brand to keep her career on track, as venues are cancelling her shows in the wake of Scola’s legal charge.
The impact that Barnes’ loss of Lexi Love has had on her career highlights the extent to which a stage name underpins a drag queen’s public-facing identity. Further, it shows how, like any brand, part of the name’s strength comes from it being future-proofed and having longevity. Protecting a name through early trade mark registration can be key to achieving this. Conducting clearance searches before using a brand name is also important. Too often, brand owners delay registering their trade marks until they have received renown, by which time third parties have applied to register the rights for themselves. In some cases this can be by bad actors attempting to exploit their success and ride on the coattails of their reputation. In the UK, the UKIPO will not block a trade mark application themselves, even if it appears to have been filed by a squatter for this purpose. Instead, it is a brand owner’s responsibility to file an opposition, which can be expensive and time-consuming. In the case of a high-profile show like Drag Race UK, which is guaranteed to boost publicity of a drag queen’s personal brand, contestants should be aware of this potential for third party exploitation, and the consequent advantages of getting protection early. Registration would not only safeguard their brands, but also provide them with a means of monetisation through franchising and future expansion into other industry sectors.
There is sometimes in the UK talk of the ‘own name defence’. Can a registered trade mark really be infringed by a person’s use of their own legal name? This has been tested, and there have been high profile cases where brand developers in the fashion industry or perfume industry have signed away the rights to use their own name as a brand. However, any such argument is going to be hard to apply to stage names, or any pseudonym an individual might publicly adopt.
We wondered whether this year’s Drag Race UK contestants have picked up on this rebrand story and filed any of their own stage names. A search of the UKIPO register reveals that, to date, none have sought to protect their stage names.
That being said, one contestant is engaging with trade mark rights in a unique way. SALLYTM (pronounced ‘Sally Trade Mark’), whose legal name is Russell Atkinson, entered the drag scene ten years ago and, according to their opening interview on the show, got the inspiration for their name from a Sims character. The ‘TM’ superscript, which SALLY stylises as ‘trademark’ in their social media handles, draws explicit attention to their name as a brand. A glance at their Instagram account shows they arealready using the name as the basis for a larger portfolio, with the superscript featuring in the titles of all their looks. SALLYTM is also a celebrity ambassador for Diabetes UK, a role which pushes the publicity of their personal brand identity beyond the drag world.
In light of this, we might ask why SALLYTM has not taken steps to secure legal protection for this stage name. While the ® symbol that is familiar alongside well-known brand names indicates a registered trade mark with legal protection against unauthorised use, the TM superscript points to unregistered trade mark rights. These unregistered rights are protected by common law tort, but enforcing them can be difficult and expensive, and even then, the scope of protection is often highly restricted. As Barnes’ loss of the Lexi Love name shows, relying on unregistered rights to defend your central brand is not advisable.
This use of ‘TM’ is a way for SALLYTM to emphasise that their stage name should be viewed as a brand, not just a stage name. Having said that, as noted above, registered trade mark protection is far more valuable. So, perhaps other marks already on the register have deterred SALLYTM from pursuing registered trade mark rights (the international cosmetic brand SALLY BEAUTY is among the first to come to mind).
Stage names like those used in drag are only one example of pseudonyms that groups or individuals, including authors and athletes, may rely on when building a career in the public eye. These professional names should not be treated differently to the protection of any other brand. Obtaining protection early is integral to this; it safeguards against being forced to rebrand at a later stage. In essence, if you are developing a personal brand using a name that is not your legal one, the advice it to try and get it registered before someone beats you to it!
This article is for general information only. Its content is not a statement of the law on any subject and does not constitute advice. Please contact Reddie & Grose LLP for advice before taking any action in reliance on it.
