Posts Tagged: "Blue Ivy Carter"

Tangled Up in ‘Blue Ivy’: Beyoncé Battles Massachusetts Wedding Planner in Trademark Dispute

Beyoncé is more than just one of the music industry’s most recognizable stars. She has built a business empire that extends into entertainment production, fashion, major product endorsements and even streaming music distribution through the Tidal platform with her husband, Jay-Z. Forbes named Beyoncé its Most Powerful Woman in Entertainment on two occasions, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide. With such a track record of success, it should come as no surprise that Beyoncé is extremely savvy about the importance and value of personal branding and intellectual property. Through her BGK Trademark Holdings, LLC, the singer owns a number of trademarks related to various products and services, ranging from clothing and accessories to cosmetics and charitable services. Case in point: Beyoncé is engaged in a fierce trademark battle with the owner of a Massachusetts wedding planning business over “Blue Ivy”—the name shared by the wedding event business and the singer’s young daughter.

TTAB denies Beyoncé requests in BLUE IVY CARTER Trademark Opposition Proceedings

In late December, Beyoncé’s trademark holding company lost out on a motion to amend the TTAB’s standard protective order to make certain information confidential under 37 CFR § 2.120(g). This statute allows parties to make a motion when discovery is sought if they can show good cause that a TTAB order is required to protect a party from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue burden. BGK Trademark Holdings sought an order modifying the TTAB’s standard protective order regarding “private information concerning Applicant [BGK Trademark],” specifically “any and all information” related to Beyoncé, daughter Blue Ivy Carter and husband Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z.

Are Beyoncé and Jay Z committing fraud on the USPTO?

It appears that Beyoncé’s trademark filing activities raise the question as to whether she, through her trademark holding company, is attempting fraud on the USPTO. “Fraud” is a nasty legal word, but that is the proper term of art to use when there is a question about whether an applicant has been forthcoming and honest with the USPTO. Applicants before the USPTO owe a duty of candor, which if breached by the applicant is because the applicant is said to have committed fraud on the Office… It’s also possible that, if the couple never intended on making the goods and services claimed in the BLUE IVY CARTER application, they have no true intent to offer those same goods and services listed under the RUMI CARTER and SIR CARTER applications.

Event planner Blue Ivy wins motion for early discovery in trademark opposition case against Beyoncé

On June 21st, however, an administrative trademark judge at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) granted Blue Ivy’s motion for early discovery. The discovery is limited to the grounds of no bona fide intent and fraud on the USPTO. Blue Ivy alleges that, although BGK Trademark Holdings is claiming the use of the BLUE IVY CARTER mark for a wide range of goods and services, that there’s no true intent to use the mark in commerce at all.

Beyoncé seeks trademark on daughter Blue Ivy Carter name for everything from cosmetics to high chairs

On January 22, Beyoncé filed a U.S. trademark application that seeks to protect the use of the trademark BLUE IVY CARTER on a wide variety of goods and services. The mark has been filed for goods and services in 14 different trademark classes… A challenge to the trademark will likely be coming from Veronica Morales, the owner of a Boston-based wedding planning company Blue Ivy, which has operated since 2009. On February 7th of this year, Morales filed a request for a 30-day extension to oppose the mark and TTAB granted that request the same day.