Mariah Carey's attempt to be named "Queen Of Christmas" has been turned down
17 November 2022, 13:37 | Updated: 17 November 2022, 14:04
The US singer has been told she can't trademark the festive title after opposition from another musician, Elizabeth Chan.
Mariah Carey has been told she can't legally call herself "Queen Of Christmas" by the US Patent And Trademark Office - after another musician complained, saying "Christmas is for everyone".
The American singer applied to trademark the name, plus the abbreviation "QOC" and the title "Princess Christmas" after international success with the 1994 track All I Want For Christmas Is You.
Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You (Make My Wish Come True Edition)
The trademark would mean that no other musician could use the title for marketing and merchandising.
However, musician Elizabeth Chan, who has released a Christmas album every year since 2013's Everyday Holidays and has used the name "Queen Of Christmas" herself, challenged Carey's claim to the title. When the superstar's management didn't respond to the opposition, the trademark application was turned down.
"Jingle Bells" - Elizabeth Chan (Taylor Swift "Shake It Off" Parody)
According to Sky News, Mariah Carey's company, Lotion LLC, had applied for the trademark in March 2021, but Chan had launched the legal challenge in August.
Chan told Variety that Carey had been "trying to trademark this in every imaginable way".
She went on: "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.
"That's just not the right thing to do. Christmas is for everyone. It's meant to be shared; it's not meant to be owned."
"This was a classic case of trademark bullying," Chan's attorney Louis Tompros told Entertainment Weekly. "We are pleased with the victory, and delighted that we were able to help Elizabeth fight back against Carey's overreaching trademark registrations."
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (Official Music Video)
Singer Darlene Love - famous for the 1963 hit Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - launched her own challenge to Mariah's claim, revealing that talk show host David Letterman had crowned her the Queen of Christmas a year before Carey's single All I Want For Christmas Is You was even released, adding "at 81 years of age I'm NOT changing anything."
