Is Mariah Carey the 'Queen of Christmas?' Artist effort to trademark title met with opposition

Back in March of 2021, Mariah Carey's lawyers filed a petition for the artist to be able to trademark the title 'Queen of Christmas.' The effort was made public this July and it turns out that other artists are opposing Mariah's bid.

Likely in connection to her iconic song All I Want for Christmas is You, now the subject of a lawsuit, Mariah filed the application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office hoping to be able to eventually sell merchandise with the superlative written on it, including perfumes, makeup, nail polish, hair care, lotions and sunglasses. 

If given the green light to patent the title, Mariah would likely market herself as the 'Queen of Christmas' throughout her music videos, at concerts and more as well.

Although Mariah recently get inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and her holiday song is certainly associated to the arrival of Christmas, it turns out that other artists are not so happy about the 53-year-old's legal move.

CBS News reported that Christmas songwriter Elizabeth Chan is one of the artists opposing the application. She enlisted the help of lawyers at WilmerHale law firm to fight the action in court.

"Christmas has come way before any of us on earth, and hopefully will be around way after any of us on earth," Elizabeth said in an interview with Variety. "And I feel very strongly that no one person should hold onto anything around Christmas or monopolize it in the way that Mariah seeks to in perpetuity. 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."

Elizabeth went on to explain that her resistance isn't solely connected to the music business. "[Mariah's] trying to trademark this in every imaginable way - clothing, liquor products, masks, dog collars - it's all over the map," she said. "If you knit a 'Queen of Christmas' sweater, you should be able to sell it on Etsy to somebody else so they can buy it for their grandma. It's crazy - it would have that breadth of registration."

Another singer, Grammy winner Darlene Love, took to social media to discuss the matter.

"David Letterman officially declared me the Queen of Christmas 29 years ago, a year before [Carey] released 'All I want For Christmas Is You' and at 81 years of age I'm NOT changing anything," Darlene wrote on Facebook. "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!!"

Whether Mariah will legally be referred to as the sole Queen of Christmas moving forward is yet to be seen, but she certainly holds that title in our hearts as the holidays approach each year.