Mariah Carey, famously known for her 1994 Christmas Hit ‘All I want for Christmas’, has been ruled against by the US Patent and Trademark Office on November 15th after submitting three trade mark applications surrounding her Christmas-themed successes.
Carey’s company Lotion LLC filed requests to trademark the phrases ‘Queen of Christmas’, ‘Princess Christmas’, and the abbreviation of the prior request; ‘QOC’ in 2021 to use it on merchandise products sold by the singer. These trademarks would have also given the singer and her company the legal rights to stop others from using the title on other products as well as music titles.
The New York- born singer became famous for the festive period after releasing her famous single, and has since remained a recurring face for the winter months with performances of her Christmas songs.
After her trademark applications, musician Elizabeth Chan, filed an opposition to her request, stating that she has previously used the phrase in the past, namely a Christmas album titled ‘The Queen of Christmas’ released in 2021.
Chan, in an interview with American magazine company ‘Variety’ criticised Mariah for attempting to ‘monetise Christmas’, stating her strong feelings against one person ‘monopolising Christmas in the way Mariah is seeing to in perpetuity’. She continued to express how ‘Christmas is for everyone…it’s not meant to be owned.’ Within the interview,
Lotion LLC did not respond to Chan’s objection in time, which meant that the trademark was rejected, leaving her without the festive titles and exclusive rights to their use.
The song has reached the top position in charts in numerous countries by 2017, and is estimated to have earnt Carey more than $60million (£48million) in royalties. 26 years after Carey’s Christmas song was released, it finally reached number one in the UK singles chart in 2020.
This news comes just 3 weeks after the singer was luckily released from an infringement claim regarding her Christmas hit single.
Country singer, Andy Stone, initiated legal action against Carey in June of this year, claiming he co-wrote a song with the same name 5 years prior to its release. Performing with the band Vince Vance, Stone filed the lawsuit in a New Orleans federal court, where he ultimately dismissed the case this month, without failing to state that he could refile it if he chose to. The original infringement was claiming $20million (£16million) in damages from the popstar, and argued that Carey had exploited his ‘popularity’.
Although the songs may have the same title, musically, they are different. However, Stone claimed that Carey failed to request his permission to use the song name, and therefore, he was entitled to profits from its sales and successes.
