As expected, someone like me was never going to win in a warped justice system against multimillionaires. I’ve spent about 3 years and a small fortune fighting Baccarat and I don’t regret any of it. It would have been easier to cut my losses two years ago, but when I learned about who they were, it became about much more than something as comparatively insignificant as a trademark.
I’ve rarely seen a small business win against a corporate Goliath in a situation like this, and as you know I didn’t have huge hope that I was going to turn that tide, but I always felt they should be fought even if the odds were stacked against me. So, this wasn’t a suprise, and I’m relieved to reach the end of nearly 3 years battling a very toxic entity. I feel they wanted to bankrupt or scare me out of existence, but I’m still here. My art studio never was destroyed because of their threats, and now that this is over, that feels like the bigger win to me.
I’ve of course grown to REALLY dislike the name Black Baccara through all of this. I fantasized often about changing it, but it would have meant backing down. The decision means I can’t have the trademark; it doesn’t mean I have to change my name. But at this point, I’m dying to so badly that I don’t care if they feel it’s a win. I had to fight for the mark, but now that this is over and I’ve grown to hate the name and can’t have the mark anyway, I want to change it on my own terms.
So, I will be transitioning to Amorphous Perfume. I always show up as myself and have always felt a little strange behind a brand name, so I like having my art bear my name. Plus, perfume IS amorphous —and aesthetically it looks really nice on the labels. It also makes sense in the larger picture of my artistic career outside of perfume.
The spirits I walk with always take good care of retribution on my behalf. As for me, I’ll be happy to never utter the word Baccarat ever again as long as they back off. This has been a huge drain on all levels and I want to thank you again for your support. Your words empowered me and your love of my art boosted the material means I needed to take on ruthless millionaires.
You’ll also notice that I have changed my social media handles concurrently with this announcement, because I feel if I don’t they will be swiped out from under me and I’ll lose the ability to get them later. I don’t really like this because it feels premature, but it felt unwise/unsafe to make the announcement without reserving the handles before doing so.
I can’t wait for you to join me on a journey more in line with my vision, that feels new and positive. I’m excited to start thinking about this for the new year and during my two month vacation. This news was actually perfect timing because it’s the time that I refresh the entire studio anyway, so it’s clean slate time.