According to TMZ, a man by the name of Jefferson
Bates in Washington State is trying to trademark social media influencer Jools LeBron's "Very
demure, very mindful" catchphrase. Here's Jools in the viral video using the catchphrase that
has been used by stars like Jennifer Lopez:
According to the trademark application,
he wants to use it for advertising, marketing, and promotional services.
Here are some snippets from Jools' reaction to learning about the trademark attempt:
Now, let's take a look at some reactions to the news which includes reactions from attorneys:
The YT man trademarking very demure, very mindful is so bad and money hungry, he’s already rich,
like what was the purpose of doing that?
It’s easy to sue. Lol. Jools has tons of proof
showing she started the phrasing “very demure, very mindful”. If the man can’t produce
evidence of him using it prior to Jools, she can win the case and trademark back.
Like the amount of greed behind that is insane!
The trademark better get denied!
It’s called business.
He’s gonna probably try and make
her buy it back from him.
Just because he filed it doesn’t mean he
successfully trademarked it! She can file on her own and she’d probably secure it easily.
If you guys are going to post information about legal matters, actually speak to a person
who specializes in trademark law because the majority of posts about this situation are full
of misinformation. Trademarks are granted off of first use, not whoever registers it first.
Very demure, very mindful, very unlikely that this unaffiliated random man’s trademark
application will be successful.
Everybody in the quotes upset about
this, but she should have trademarked it as soon as it started going viral
and other celebrities began using it.
A trademark application was filed but it hasn’t
been approved. 1). It’ll take at least another 3 months for the USPTO to even review the
application. 2). The application will likely be denied because you can’t trademark
common or generic terms and phrases.
I'm not a lawyer, but I've filed a trademark
before. It isn't legal. It'll take her like 15 minutes to file an objection, fully online
basically objecting to who used it first.
To become a trademark, it must be used
in commerce to identify the source of a product. Simply coining a phrase doesn't mean
you're entitled to use it as a trademark.
Why is she crying? She can still apply for the
trademark. It hasn't been approved. She has evidence of first use and had actually used the
phrase in digital ads. She should probably use a lawyer instead of doing it herself.
You got 30 days to challenge trademark applications. An easy win.
How does someone trademark someone else’s viral catchphrase? Like
that just doesn’t make sense to me.
My question is, how can you trademark a
word that’s in the dictionary already?
We are a first to use & not first
to file country. You can contest the filing. Find a trademark attorney.
Imma say something that’s gonna be hard to hear: demure is going to go away so fast. Memes
are fleeting. But as the creator you’re going to make so much more.
Girl, I promise if you put anything out PEOPLE will buy it. You are
thee IT girl. Real ones know!
I hope Jools is able to secure the rights
to her catchphrase. In some of her videos, she was talking about using some of the money that
she earns to help some of her family members, and she appears to be a really kind person. If you're
interested in learning more about trademarks, please consult a trademark attorney and visit
the United States Patent and Trademark Office's website, USPTO.GOV/TRADEMARKS or whoever handles
trademarks in your country. Let me know what you think about this story in the comments below, and
be sure to like this video, subscribe or follow, and click that notification bell. Thanks
for watching. See you on the next one.