LOS ANGELES, United States — US rapper Eminem has launched legal action against an Australian beachwear company called Swim Shady, accusing it of infringing on his long-standing Slim Shady trademark.
According to a petition filed in September with the US Patent and Trademark Office, the 53-year-old rapper — real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III — is seeking to cancel a trademark granted to the Sydney-based brand earlier this year.
Under US law, the company must respond to the filing by next week.
Eminem’s legal team argues that Swim Shady creates a “false association” with the artist’s globally recognised rap persona, first introduced in the late 1990s.
Court documents state that the name Slim Shady, trademarked in 1999, has become “distinctive and famous,” forming a critical part of Eminem’s identity since the success of The Real Slim Shady, which earned him a Grammy Award in 2000.
According to filings with Australia’s business regulator, the company originally launched under the name Slim Shade before rebranding to Swim Shady. It sells portable beach umbrellas, swim bags, towels, and other beach accessories.
The company registered a trademark in Australia in 2023 and later secured a trademark in the United States. Eminem’s lawyers moved quickly, filing a petition to cancel the trademark shortly after it was approved.
The firm Meyer West IP, listed as the brand’s legal representative, has not yet commented on the case. The BBC has also reached out to the company for a response.
The case emerges roughly a year after an Australian federal court reversed an earlier decision involving another celebrity trademark dispute. In that case, US singer Katy Perry was accused of infringing on the trademark of Australian fashion designer Katie Perry, who sells clothing under her birth name.
The designer likened the battle to a “David and Goliath” confrontation.
Eminem’s dispute is now set to be considered by the US trademark authority, which will determine whether the beachwear company’s name improperly capitalizes on the rapper’s internationally known brand.