Celebrities astound us with their over-the-top lifestyle, their amazing houses and cars, and their quirky ways, all of which often make their way to various gossip sites and media outlets. We already know that some of them are obsessed about certain features of their body and would gladly spend millions of dollars to insure them. For example, Julia Roberts has her dazzling smile insured for $30 million, Bruce Springsteen had his growl insured for $6 million, and Jennifer Lopez got her hips insured for $27 million. Apart from insuring body parts, another trend that is catching up with celebs these days is trademarking their names or catchphrases. Did you know that Rihanna sued her own father for using the surname Fenty for business purposes? Since she already owns it for her line of beauty products, Fenty Beauty, she felt her father was misusing her name in order to gain business.
What Are They Registering?
Big names in the entertainment industry are not just trademarking their names but even their well-known catchphrases and song lyrics. For example, Taylor Swift wanted to register, "Party Like Its 1989". She plans to use it on tons of everyday household objects like napkin rings, nail art, Christmas tree skirts, and what not! Hailey Baldwin, shortly after getting hitched to Justin Bieber, changed her name to Hailey Bieber on Instagram and she immediately wanted to register it for trademark. She also applied to register Bieber Beauty, so that she can use this name in the future if she ever plans to launch her own line. That's clever! If all this has failed to amaze you, let us tell you that NFL quarterback Tim Tebow wants to register his prayer posture. Phew, that's hard to believe!
Why Are They Doing It?
In an age when even a non-entity can become a celebrity, thanks to reality shows and social media, more and more celebrities are turning towards having a side business which will take care of their finances when they retire or when they have less work. However, an expert clarified that there is a big difference between getting a trademark and registering for a trademark. Most of these celebs are registering for a trademark which means if there is any legal dispute, these celebrities will have more control over the situation than others. Madonna had been a pioneer when it came to registering for a trademark as she wanted to register her name. The 1998 battle between Elvis Presley's estate and a bar in Houston over the name The Velvet Elvis sparked a lot of controversies, but the bar is now called The Velvet Melvin.
The trend of celebrities registering their names or catchphrases for a trademark continues to grow — some with more ridiculous words to trademark than others — and they have realized that doing so serves as a sort of passive income. Wonder if we will have any words left in the future which has not been registered for a trademark!
