IN THE PROFESSION
Trademark Barbie : Protecting a Brand
MICHELLE URBANI WALLACE Counsel and Owner , Advantage Law Firm m . u . wallace @ theadvantagelawfirm . com
claiming trademark infringement and dilution ( weakening the brand of Barbie ). The Court ruled in favor for Aqua as a first amendment and artistic right ordering ( and you can ’ t make this up ) “ The parties are advised to chill .” Mattel , Inc . v . MCA Records , Inc ., 296 F . 3d 894 ( 9th Cir . 2002 ). Going into more detail on the turning points of the extent of asserting trademark , The court stated the test is a balance between the trademark owner ' s property rights and the public ' s expressive interests .
“ A trademark is a word , phrase or symbol that is used to identify a manufacturer or sponsor of a good or the provider of a service . See New Kids on the Block v . News Am . Publ ' g , Inc ., 971 F . 2d 302 , 305 ( 9th Cir . 1992 ). If speech is not " purely commercial "— that is , if it does more than propose a commercial transaction — then it is entitled to full First Amendment protection . Id . at 1185-86 ( Bolger v . Youngs Drug Prod ' s Corp ., 463 U . S . 60 , 66 , 103 S . Ct . 2875 , 77 L . Ed . 2d 469 ( 1983 )).
Fast forward to today , although Mattel eventually embraced the song to use a version of it for a 2009 Barbie Commercial , they took a pass on using the original Aqua song for the movie . The movie ’ s official soundtrack does include a Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice version (“ Barbie World ”). Although Aqua ’ s vocals were replaced with another singer in the background , Aqua is credited on the track and Billboard song listing . Aqua welcomed the female rappers as “ two more Barbies added to the playhouse ” while promoting them on an instagram post .
U nless your head has been buried in the [ pink ] sand , you have been exposed to the Barbie takeover by businesses and individuals turning pink stemming from the release of the blockbuster Barbie movie in theaters . Most of that domination includes # imabarbiegirl and sample of the iconic “ Barbie Girl ” triple platinum song by Aqua from 1997 .
What you might not know is relations have been far from rosy [ pink ] between Aqua and Mattel ( owner of Barbie and one of the official listed producers of the movie ). Mattel hauled all parties associated with Aqua ’ s song into court six months after its release
Minaj herself is no stranger to excessively using the Barbie trademark with her image and in music ranging from : album covers , photos , song lyrics such as in her “ Barbie Tings ” and refers to her fans as “ Barbies ” or “ Barbz .”
Ultimately , this brings things a bit full circle with how companies see use of trademark by the right influencers as profitable instead of a complete unauthorized harm and further cements the icon status of Barbie over multiple generations .
51 October / November 2023