Ever since Keeping Up With The Kardashians burst onto our screens in 2007, Kris Jenner and the rest of the Kardashian/Jenner family have been working hard to make sure their names stay in the limelight. Here, we take a look at the more controversial trade marks and recent trade mark battles of the famous family.

1. Keeping up with the Kardashian trade marks
Ever since Keeping Up With The Kardashians burst onto our screens in
2007, Kris Jenner and the rest of the Kardashian/Jenner family have been
working hard to make sure their names stay in the limelight. Here, we take a
look at the more controversial trade marks and recent trade mark battles of
the famous family.
Trying to Keep Up With The Kardashian trade marks

2. Ever since Keeping Up With The Kardashians burst onto our screens in 2007, Kris
Jenner and the rest of the Kardashian/Jenner family have been working hard to
make sure their names stay in the limelight. Central to this is an uncompromising
trade mark filing policy, intended to protect anything they consider to fall under
their personal branding, and including some interesting applications and disputes.
Whilst some of these trade marks relate to legitimate business interests, such as
clothing lines and beauty brands and, it seems that one family member or another
is never very far from a trade mark related headline. And with over 700 trade marks
in the Kardashian/Jenner fold, there is plenty of scope for someone to find
something to complain about. Here, we take a look at the more controversial trade
marks and recent trade mark battles of the famous family.
Let’s start with the children’s names. Kylie Jenner and rapper Travis Scott recently
secured protection for their daughter Stormi’s name, and the phrase “Stormiworld”
which stems from the theme of Stormi’s first birthday party (and also makes a
passing reference to her dad’s “Astroworld” album).
Kylie’s actions are not without precedent: the original Kardashian/rapper
combination, Kim and Kanye West, have taken out trade mark protection for all of
their children’s names – North West, Saint West, Chicago West and Psalm West.
Trade mark protection has also been secured by Khloé Kardashian for her daughter
True’s name.
Whilst on the subject of names, Kylie Jenner’s attempt to protect Kylie as a stand-
alone trade mark was thwarted in 2015 after an objection was raised by Kylie
Minogue.

3. Kylie also hit the news after a video went viral of her singing the well known phrase
“rise and shine” to Stormi. When the clip started trending, Kylie wasted no time in
filing two trade mark applications for the phrase covering such things as
cosmetics, clothing, footwear and other accessories.
That is by far not the only time one of the Kardashians has been in the news in
relation to a trade mark issue.
In July 2019, Kim Kardashian was awarded $2.7 million after the fast fashion
retailer Missguided was found to have used Kim’s “persona and trademarks” to sell
clothing items similar to those worn by Kim.

4. This win for Kim was, however, quickly followed by a controversy that did not go
her way. The announcement that her shapewear clothing brand would be called
Kimono led to an outcry from Japanese cultural experts – and, in fact, the majority
of Japan – as well as the trending of the #KimOhNo hashtag on social media.
Despite trade mark protection having being sought for the name, the accusations
of cultural appropriation and insensitivity led to Kim rebranding the range as
SKIMS Solutionwear.
Kim was also in the news in October 2019, when she was moved to defend the
trade mark for her initials “KKW” against a later application for the same letter
combination. Kim argued that the goods included in the application were similar to
those covered by her registered mark, and as such would cause confusion for
customers. As the applicant of the later trade mark did not respond, the application
has now been abandoned.
Looking deeper into the portfolios of the Kardashian/Jenners, there is a definite
trend for trade marks starting with the letter K.
Kim in particular has a fondness for replacing the letter C with a K, to keep things
on-brand and give an air of distinctiveness, for example:
• Kardashian Khaos
• Kimogif
• Kimoji
• Kardashian Kollection Kurves
Kylie, meanwhile – in addition to the aforementioned Stormi- related marks – has
hit upon the fact that the first two letters of her name can be used in place of the
word “eye” to create a whole host of make up related marks:

5. • Kybrow
• Kylash
• Kylighter
• Kyshadow
Kendall Jenner, the model and elder daughter of Kris and Caitlyn Jenner, has also
got in on the act, securing trade marks covering business lines and making it
known which family they relate to:
• Cake by Kendall and Cara (with “Cara” likely referring to Kendall’s friend
and fellow model, Cara Delevingne)
• Metal Haven by Kendall and Kylie
• Kendall + Kylie
We could add to the list the similar activities of Kim’s husband, rapper Kanye West,
who has a penchant for trade marks relating to the “ye” aspect of his name – with
his portfolio including the marks Yeezi, Yeezus, Yeezy and Yeezy Sound.
With Keeping up with the Kardashians now in its 17th
season, and the celebrity of
the Kardashians, Kardashian-Wests and Jenners showing no sign of fading, we can
expect more headline-making trade mark applications and further controversies to
follow…
About Dawn Ellmore Employment
Dawn Ellmore Employment was incorporated in 1995 and is a market leader in
intellectual property and legal recruitment.