Beyonce Gets Déjà vu In Trade Mark Application

Music superstar Beyonce has previously tried unsuccessfully to trade mark 'Blue Ivy' the name of her daughter in the USA. Now she is trying again with an application to trade mark 'Blue Ivy Carter' being the full name of her daughter.

The first application for 'Blue Ivy' was refused following opposition from Blue Ivy Company which is an event planning company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The opposition was based on the similarity between the names and the fact that they had been trading under their name since 2012, three years before the birth of Blue Ivy Carter.

This second application has now been made and Beyonce will be hoping that the addition of the Carter surname will be enough to make this application successful. The application has been made in various classes, including electronics, beauty and fashion however it is once again being opposed by the Blue Ivy Company, who are likely to be successful in their opposition which is largely based on comments made by Beyonce's husband Jay-Z.

In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2013 Jay-Z had stated that the purpose of the trade mark applications was not to actually make use of the mark themselves, but simply to stop others from seeking to make use of the name. If this remains the case then the new application is also unlikely to be successful.

It will be interesting to see if this is current application can succeed where the earlier application failed and if it does this may be an indication that Beyonce does actually intend to commercialise the Blue Ivy name.