Topics: US News, Mariah Carey, Christmas, Music
We all know that Mariah Carey starts to defrost as soon as Halloween ends. Metaphorically, of course.
But despite Carey’s 1994 track ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ being an absolute banger even almost 30 years after its release, it’s not enough to consider the star the ‘Queen of Christmas’.
I know what you’re thinking. Firstly, yes, her application to trademark the nickname ‘Queen of Christmas’ was a legitimate thing.
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And secondly, her attempt to be dubbed the moniker has been turned down by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Should the application have gone through, it would have given Carey the legal right to prevent others from calling themselves the title on music and merchandise.
But the application was reportedly denied under the grounds that her company did not respond to a different singer’s opposition against the title.
The singer, 52, was also unsuccessful in trademarking the abbreviation for the title ‘QOC’ and ‘Princess Christmas’.
Last year, Carey’s company Lotion LLC previously applied for the yuletide trademark last year, which led to a different singer, Elizabeth Chan - who has a 2021 festive album titled ‘The Queen of Christmas’ - submitted a legal challenge in August to prevent Carey from being titled the same name.
Despite becoming synonymous with the holiday season, the iconic Christmas song had previously never reached number one in the UK singles chart until 2020, when it finally reached the recognition many will say the song deserved.
Chan was given the same nickname as what Carey hoped to be dubbed by The New Yorker in 2018 after she released original Christmas music each year for a decade, and condemned Carey for her supposed attempts at ‘monetising’ the season of giving.
Chan revealed in a recent interview with Variety: "I feel very strongly that no one person should hold onto 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."
Chan added that Carey was ‘trying to trademark this in every imaginable way’, including music, clothing merch and alcohol, as well as ‘masks, dog collars’.
“It's all over the map,” Chan said. “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."
Carey’s company did not respond to Chan’s legal opposition in the allotted time, so the trademark was not granted.
Carey may not be the Queen of Christmas in formality, but she certainly is in our hearts.
