Jools Lebron a TikTok star is attracting a fresh method to cement her place in the greatness of the Internet. The artist, who loves to term herself as “I am very demure very mindful” has moved to court to trademark this phrase which is rapidly becoming more popular with the intend of covering all range of entertainment and advertisement services including that of beauty products.
The story behind “Very demure, very mindful” went viral in the next month when Noelle amazed netizes with astonishing Tiktoks in which she styled her hair and had makeup done in an unusual way. Most of these phrases were over used fashionably to describe normal tasks or events where the words “cutesy” and “mindful” became overused to help in presenting the endeavor of daily tasks or fancy events.
Besides the wild popularity and all of its opportunity for new exposure, Lebron’s internet explosion has assisted her financially in her shift to a transgender woman. The pending approval of the trademark applications filed in her real name is with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The objective? To protect her exceptional idea from plagiarism and induce the fad into an income-generating opportunity.
Nonetheless, owing to legal considerations, obtaining a trademark is not an uncomplicated affair. That trend is spreading, and several other parties have entered the battle to appropriate demure-related phrases, as reported by CBS News. This has sparked competition among the applicants to appropriate that piece of darker history as some of the applicants have lodged their filings even before Lebron went official.
This is where trademark law comes into play. According to Alexandria J Roberts, a professor of law at Northeastern University, such a marketing monopoly must be linked to commerce – that is, it is insufficient to produce a catchy phrase. There must be the sale of products or services which relate to that. This ensures that each trademark is relevant, which serves to avoid consumer confusion on the sources of each product, Fiesler said.
In the meantime, Casey Fiesler, assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, added that although the phrase of LeBron may recur in her mental context, such devices are specifically invented in order to avoid confusion among the customers. Therefore, someone else opening a company with a similar name that could daintily spell coy over the potential endorsement of Lebron’s marketing endorsement could be bathed in offending legal actions.
In contemporary times, safeguarding one’s intellectual property has proven to be a tough endeavor. Creators are always working to get their work out there and be appreciated for it while also protecting their work from the numerous trends present. More often than not, people from marginalized communities, especially young women of color, have been unable to keep ownership of the viral content they create as it is taken by people with capital.
But for Lebron, her story is only starting. While her applications are pending review, she still has potential avenues to exploit. She could, for instance, reach out to other applicants, if there are any, or try to oppose the applications if there is a chance they may hurt her brand. Nevertheless, it must also be understood that registration processes have a knack for taking ages and sometimes long after the trend has reached its pinnacle.
At this stage, Lebron may still actively market her “very demure, very mindful” products. Nowadays making those mere words into a brand that can stand legally protected will solely take time and understanding of the law. As she positions herself in this web, everybody is waiting to see how the “very demure, very mindful” story develops.
