Beyoncé is once again in the spotlight, filing a motion to secure a trademark for her firstborn, Blue Ivy Carter.
The move comes after years of navigating the complexities of trademark law and the challenges of protecting her daughter’s name from potential commercialization.
Beyoncé first attempted to trademark “Blue Ivy” through BGK Trademark Holdings LLC in 2012. During a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, Jay-Z expressed his concerns about the use of their daughter’s name for commercial products, stating:
“You don’t want anybody trying to benefit off your baby’s name.”
He stressed the importance of setting boundaries, adding:
“For somebody to say, ‘This person had a kid — I’m gonna make a f-ckin’ stroller with that kid’s name,’ it’s like, where’s the humanity?”
In the years that followed, Beyoncé faced ongoing disputes with a lifestyle event planner who attempted to use the name Blue Ivy for her own business.
This conflict was ultimately resolved in 2020 in Beyoncé’s favor, but her legal team did not pursue the trademark application at that time.
According to a news report by AfroTech, now in 2024, the interest in securing the Blue Ivy Carter trademark has reignited.
According to the report, Beyoncé’s latest motion was prompted by a previous ruling from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which stated that the trademark would conflict with a similar name already in use by a Wisconsin-based clothing boutique.
This boutique has been using the name “Blue Ivy” since before Beyoncé’s daughter was born on January 7, 2012.
Beyoncé’s legal team is pushing back, arguing that the public is unlikely to confuse the high-profile name of Blue Ivy Carter with the small boutique.
“Since the moment she was born, she has resided in the American public’s conscience,” her attorneys asserted, stressing that the two entities can coexist without confusion.
They pointed out that the boutique is located in a small community with a population of just 997 people and that no reasonable consumer would mistake the boutique’s logo for a trademark associated with the famous Carter family.
As of now, the Wisconsin boutique is not actively contesting Beyoncé’s trademark request, leaving the matter in the hands of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The outcome remains to be seen, but the stakes are high as the cultural impact of Blue Ivy Carter continues to grow.
