The dispute pits two entertainers who have each used the name Lexi Love for years in different corners of the entertainment industry. Scola began performing under the name in 2004 in adult films and, after leaving that industry around 2010, expanded into films, television shows, commercials, video games, music videos, musical recordings and tours, film and podcast production, and influencer work. Barnes is a professional drag performer who began using the name in 2009 and gained wide recognition when she appeared in every episode of Season 17 of RuPaul's Drag Race, which aired between January and April 2025 on MTV. World of Wonder Productions, Inc. produced that season, and Paramount Skydance Corporation aired it; both continue to stream it.
Scola has a complicated trademark history. She obtained a federal registration for LEXI LOVE in July 2008 — Registration 3475773 — covering entertainment services in International Class 41, but that registration was cancelled in March 2015 for failure to file Section 8 maintenance filings. She applied for a second registration in February 2015 and obtained Registration 4843150 in October 2015, but that too was cancelled on May 13, 2022, again for failure to file Section 8 maintenance filings. Scola reapplied in February 2024, seeking registration in both International Class 35 (advertising and business) and International Class 41 (entertainment services), and a new certificate of registration issued on March 18, 2025; that registration is currently active.
Barnes filed suit on December 19, 2025, seeking a declaratory judgment invalidating Scola's mark and asserting claims for trademark infringement, unfair competition, intentional interference with contractual relations, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. Scola filed counterclaims on March 9, 2026, asserting trademark infringement, conversion, and unfair competition against Barnes, and a third-party complaint against Paramount and WOW for trademark infringement. Scola then moved for a preliminary injunction barring Barnes, Paramount, and WOW from continuing to use the LEXI LOVE mark.
Chief Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California denied the motion. The court held that Scola's infringement claim turns on whether she or Barnes is the senior user of the mark in entertainment channels more mainstream than adult films or drag shows, respectively, and that the record does not resolve that question. The court noted that Barnes provided no evidentiary support for her claimed early use of the name beyond her unverified complaint, and that she appears to have used other names besides Lexi Love after her alleged first use and did not allege use of the name outside drag show performances before RuPaul's Drag Race. On Scola's side, the court observed that her two prior registrations both lapsed for failure to file the maintenance filings the USPTO requires to confirm a mark is in use, and that the first evidence she cited of continued use after leaving the adult film industry dates to 2012 — two years after Barnes' alleged first use in 2010.
Because Scola failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits, the court declined to reach the other preliminary injunction factors, including irreparable harm. The court also noted that Scola's contributory infringement, UCL, and conversion claims hinge on her trademark infringement claim, so injunctive relief could not issue on those claims either.