When Beyonce and Jay Carter announced that their daughter would be named Blue Ivy Carter, not everyone was pleased. A huge part of this reason was because of their attempt to trademark the name, Blue Ivy, a name, a wedding planner, Veronica Morales, has now said was hers before the birth of their daughter. Morales, for this reason, filed a complaint about this attempt.
The thing is, Morales, founder of The Blue Ivy Event started operations in 2009, three years before Blue Ivy Carter was born. She noted in her court documents, that while Jay Z said in an interview with Vanity Fair that they don’t want people to profit from the name, Beyonce in her trademark documents, stated that it would be used for business, an act she has described as fraudulent, Newhiphop site reveals.
He said,
“People wanted to make products based on our child’s name, and you don’t want anybody trying to benefit off your baby’s name,” Jay told the publication back in 2013. “It wasn’t for us to do anything; as you see, we haven’t done anything. First of all, it’s a child, and it bothers me when there’s no [boundaries]. I come from the streets, and even in the most atrocious shit we were doing, we had lines: no kids, no mothers—there was respect there. But [now] there’s no boundaries. For somebody to say, This person had a kid—I’m gonna make a fuckin’ stroller with that kid’s name. It’s, like, where’s the humanity?”
Meanwhile, the Blast had earlier reported that Morales had suggested that they acquire her business and trademark as well as collaborate with her on a product line for $10 million (N3.6 billion) in 2018.
“Bey’s team says during the meeting, Morales’ counsel “gave a long speech” about treating the opposition as an “opportunity for a business relationship rather than an adversarial proceeding.” They say Morales put together a PowerPoint presentation to show why Beyoncé should acquire her wedding planning business AND her “Blue Ivy” trademark and then they could combine forces and “begin producing products and goods” with Bey attached. Morales allegedly offered a bundle deal for $10 million.”
Regardless of that, Morales, in her document, stands by her claim their admission is simply fraudulent.
“When considered together, the admission to Vanity Fair and the refusal to respond to any discovery responses is sufficient evidence to conclude that the Applicant’s intent all along is exactly what Jay Z said: to use trademark applications to prevent others from using the name of their daughter. This is fraud on the USPTO.”
