US pop icon Mariah Carey has lost her bid to trademark the phrase “Queen of Christmas” after failing to respond to a fellow festive singer’s opposition.
Carey’s company Lotion LLC applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office last year to secure the goldmine Christmas tag, as well as trying to lock in “Princess Christmas” and “QOC” (short for Queen of Christmas).
The monikers were to be be stamped across products ranging from music to perfume, and sunglasses to coconut milk.
But in August, US Christmas music singer/songwriter Elizabeth Chan – dubbed the “Queen of Christmas” by The New Yorker in 2018 after an album of the same name – lawyered up and lodged a protest with the court.
“Christmas has come way before any of us on Earth, and hopefully will be around way after any of us on Earth,” Chan told Variety at the time.
“And it’s not just about the music business,” she continued.
“She’s trying to trademark this in every imaginable way – clothing, liquor products, masks, dog collars – it’s all over the map.
“If you knit a ‘queen of Christmas’ sweater, you should be able to sell it on Etsy to somebody else so they can buy it for their grandma.
“It’s crazy it would have that breadth of registration.”
“I feel very strongly that no one person should hold on to anything around Christmas, or monopolise it in the way that Mariah seeks to in perpetuity.
Lotion LLC did not respond in time to the court, meaning the trademark wasn’t granted, reported multiple media outlets including the ABC.
Tweet from @MariahCarey
Mary – not Mariah – the Queen of Christmas
While Carey is yet to comment on the USPTO decision, she did take to social media last week to subtly acknowledge the trademark bid was over.
It had been suggested philanthropist and country and western singer, Dolly Parton, dressed in a bright red Santa costume, should be the Queen of Christmas.
Dolly wrote: “Now, don’t you say that! I’m not going to compete with Mariah… I love her. You think of Christmas, you think of MariahCarey”.
“I’m happy to be second in line to her,” she wrote.
Carey held up the white flag, responding with: “Dolly, let’s settle this one… You are the Queen of Everything! The Queen of the World, The Queen of Christmas”.
Carey told the BBC in late 2021 she didn’t want the title of Queen of Christmas, saying the real queen was the religious figurehead of Christianity, Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.
Speaking to the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, she said it was “other people” who had dubbed her the queen.
“That was other people, and I just want to humbly say that I don’t consider myself that.
“I’m someone that loves Christmas, that happened to be blessed to write All I Want For Christmas Is You.
“And a lot of other Christmas songs. And let’s face it, you know, everybody’s faith is what it is. But to me, Mary is the queen of Christmas.”
Tweet from @XmasRoyalty
Back in August, Darlene Love, 81, who has spent six decades singing Christmas songs, took to social media “feeling confused”: “Is it true that Mariah Carey trade-marked ‘Queen of Christmas’? What does that mean that I can’t use that title?
“David Letterman officially declared me the Queen of Christmas 29 years ago, a year before she released All I want For Christmas Is You and at 81 years of age I’m NOT changing anything.”
Love would also like some … love … from Carey now.
Rolling Stone reported the court’s rejection of the trademark bid was “unceremoniously denied”.
“[It] means ‘Princess Christmas’ dog collars and ‘QOC’ branded eggnog won’t be on wish lists this year.”
