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Mariah Carey loses fight for “Queen of Christmas” title
After other Christmas Queens sought to block the move, Carey's trademark application has officially been denied
The festive meme machine was regarded by many as the “Queen of Christmas” and sought to make it official earlier this year. But not everyone approved.
In March 2021, Carey filed an application to trademark the term “Queen of Christmas” for exclusive usage of the title, as well as for “QOC”, “Princess of Christmas” and “Christmas Princess”. The filing was made public in July of this year.
According to Variety, the filing faced pushback from singers Darlene Love and Elizabeth Chan who both have been associated with the title “Queen of Christmas” in the past.
Love is known to have worked on several festive songs throughout her career, most notably ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ which is a firm fixture on Christmas playlists every year.
The singer has performed the hit on David Letterman’s Christmas show every year between 1986 and 2014, with Letterman declaring her the “Queen of Christmas” decades ago.
Speaking of the filing on her social media, Love said: “David Letterman officially declared me the “Queen of Christmas” 29 years ago, a year before [Carey] released ‘All I Want for Christmas’, and at 81 years of age, I’m NOT changing anything.
“I’ve been in the business for 52 years, have earned it and can still hit those notes. If Mariah has a problem, call David or my lawyer!”
The other opponent to Mariah’s plan was Elizabeth Chan, known for exclusively releasing Christmas music, even releasing an album in 2021 called – you guessed it – Queen Of Christmas.
Chan made her disapproval of Carey’s request official, filing a declaration of opposition last week. “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,” Chan told Variety
“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.”
Well, Chan and Love can now rest easy as Carey’s application has officially been denied. After Elizabeth Chan filed documents in August seeking to block Carey’s trademark bid, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has confirmed that Carey will not be allowed to trademark the phrase “Queen of Christmas”, nor the other phrases she applied to own such as “QOC” and “Princess Christmas”.
“I’m so happy,” Chan told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s my life’s work.”
Carey’s team did not respond to Chan’s opposition. Speaking on the matter, Chan’s lawyer, Louis Tompro, said:
“This is the right result. If Mariah’s team had any answer to the opposition that we made, they would have made it, but the fact of the matter is, she’s not entitled to a trademark on Queen of Christmas.”
