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Mariah Takes On Porn Star
Singer Carey seeks to derail Mary Carey trademark bid
DECEMBER 28--After threatening legal action to protect her valuable name from an encroaching porn star, Mariah Carey yesterday filed a formal opposition to the bid by actress (and former California gubernatorial candidate) Mary Carey to trademark her stage name. In a notice filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the pop singer's company, Automatic Princess Holdings, argues that Mary Carey's bid to trademark her name for use in adult films, DVDs, cassettes, computer programs, and other commercial endeavors is likely to result in confusion for the consumer. The public, Mariah Carey contends, is "likely to mistakenly associate the goods offered" by Mary Carey--whose real name is Mary Cook--with the performer's "goods and services." The December 27 notice of opposition, a copy of which you'll find below, requests that Mary Carey's trademark attempt be rejected by USPTO officials. Mary Carey, 26, has appeared in films like "Hot Showers 6" and "Lesbian Big Boob Bangeroo 2," and received 11,000 votes in her 2003 election won by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mariah Carey, 36, is, as her filing notes, "a world-famous singer, musical performer, and celebrity." She also appeared in the 2001 film "Glitter." (7 pages)



Source: http://www.thesmokinggun....arey1.html
[Edited 12/30/06 23:41pm]

MikeMatronik said:

but at any rate, Mariah's going to lose this suit. surely she's lawyers good enough to advise her not to do this.

well i dunno about the legal situation in the u.s. but in the uk mariah would have a good case here, the fact that the names are practically the same bar one letter and the fact that they both operate within the entertainment industry in general could cause confusion in the public eye.

MikeMatronik said:

do i need to see the first lesbian big boob bangeroo before watching the sequal?

I found it funny as hell that they mentioned Glitter at the end...

KidOmega said:

Sounds silly unless you actually know something about trademark law, in which case it is actually a fairly reasonable claim. According to the PTO and the courts, consumers are really stupid, and can’t tell (e.g.) “Ben’s Bread” from “Uncle Ben’s” used for rice products (Uncle Ben’s, Inc. v. Stubenberg Int’l, 47 U.S.P.Q.2d 1310 (T.T.A.B.1998) or “Nutra Salt” from “Nutrasweet” (Nutrasweet Company v. K & S Foods, Inc. 4 U.S.P.Q.2d 1964 (T.T.A.B. 1987). In the dilution context, “Tempanol” was found to be similar enough to “Tylenol” to be dilutive. Anytime two marks sound similar and are used to identify similar goods or services (in this case that would be “entertainers”) there are colorable grounds upon which the holder of a senior mark can oppose the registration of a junior mark.

ABeautifulOne said:

I have to say that I support Mary Carey's struggle. She's a very talented actress. Never seen such emotion like in Lesbian Big Boob Bangeroo 1. The only stiff thing in that movie was not her acting...

MikeMatronik said:

I am really going to have to find that movie. That title.

VoicesCarry said:

It's top class acting...better than Madonna in her more "natural" acting moments.

MikeMatronik said:

It sounds like the Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo of lesbian porn

VoicesCarry said:

roundables said:

the study of trademark law was part of my degree, so i do know something about it. she's going to lose the suit, if it doesn't get thrown out of court outright. it's hard enough to do it with a personal name, let alone file an infringement suit against someone who isn't actually using the same name.


and besides, why's she bothering? Mary Carey is old news. the pinnacle of her career was running for California governer. and the run-up to that was a few appearances on the Howard Stern show. i thought she'd pretty much dropped of the radar.
[Edited 12/31/06 21:55pm]

KidOmega said:

roundables said:

all of the examples you (or the lawyer) posted were of product names. not stage or birth names of actual people. now, if some teen pop sensation went around calling herself Nutrasweet, there might be grounds for a trademark violation suit. but Mariah Carey does not own the trademark for Mary Carey, because that is not what she calls herself in any business ventures.

KidOmega said:

I could've sworn that Carey was the name on all most all of her albums. Her lawyers claim that she has a trademarked that name. And, then you have Mary Carey who changed her name from Cook to Carey in imitation of Mariah herself. I thought trademark law covers all marks and likenesses of that mark?

Mariah is really getting shot down



LEGEND, STAR, DIVA... MARIAH

Hi Keith!

I have been a Mariah Carey fan since 1998 when she released the song "My All" from the "Butterfly" album. [I want to] know what you think about Carey's status in music industry. Do you think one day she could become a legend? Or do you think she might be just a lucky star in that she has had a lot of success on charts [and sold a lot of albums]?

Thanks in advance for your time!

Dave Corneau
Montreal, Canada


Hi Dave,

Oh boy, another diva question? It does seem like certain acts, no matter how many albums they sell, or No. 1 singles they have, just aren't considered "legendary." Truly, just because you sell a lot, that doesn't mean you are a legend.

Take for example, acts like Bon Jovi, Journey, Celine Dion or Whitney Houston. All have had many hit singles, sold millions of albums, and yet, most would debate whether all of them have reached "legendary" status. (I'm waiting for frustrated Houston fans to write in, angered that I would even suggest she isn't a legend.) With some artists, say, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson... it's a no brainer. They are legends. Period.

I think the "legend" perception may have to do with the artist's cultural significance. While Carey will likely end up rewriting history books as the artist with the most No. 1 Hot 100 singles (she get closer to breaking the Beatles' record every year), has she made the same sort of cultural impact as the Beatles? I think even Carey herself might concede that she's not in the same ballpark as the fab four.

And Carey fans, don't send me hate mail. "The Emancipation of Mimi" was my No. 9 favorite album of 2005.


http://billboard.com/bbco...1003525978

She who should not be mentioned went through a similar court battle in 2001-02 when the porn company that owned hername.com went out of busisness and was getting rid of it's domains, hername.com, whitehouse.com, and couple others. they were going to donate the name to a hosiptal that was named of the Mother of Jesus, and she wanted it because she was stuck with hernamemusic.com. She sued for hername.com and the judge ended up giving it to her because he felt that over the course of her carear she redifined what the name meant and that most people on the internet would assume that that domain name would be hers and not some charity's or porn company's.


So i guess it would depend on how well Mariah could prove that her name was that well branded to have her be the first thing people were looking for under that name.

ABeautifulOne said:

Where's the slam? There are some stars that the media loves and puts on a God-like status, and then there's others that they live to piss on. Mariah's in the latter category. I remember before the Grammy's it became an anything but Mariah campaign with every notable music journalist. I do disagree with Whitney not being thought of as a legend. No, neither Mariah or Whitney have had a huge cultural impact. However, it's still going to be hard to gloss over the impact they've had on younger female artists when it's all said done.

Mary Carey should sue Mariah, and tell her to stop dressing and acting like a whore and impersonating HER.

Mariah's just being catty because Mary looks better than her nowdays...

Tom said:

MikeMatronik said:

Aw that one was a classic.

ehuffnsd said:

The name is MADONNA!!!

MADONNA!!!

~MADONNNA!!!

What a farce...I mean, one of them looks like a skanky budget cost porn star, and the other one makes adult movies.

Mong said:

Tom said:

What pics of Mary Carey have you been looking at? And, if Mary should be truly offended she could just change her name back to her birth name Cook.

roundables said:

Mariah Carey does not own the name Carey. she owns the name "Mariah Carey" as a recording artist.

also, there are exemptions for parody, which Mary Carey can probably claim.

roundables said:

Since most younger female artists can't sing for shit, what impact have they actually had?

.


Mariah actually did win the case already LOL