Music Diss the season: Mariah Carey loses 'Queen of Christmas' trademark dispute to Elizabeth Chan The queen's trademark is dead, long live the queens of Christmas! By Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he covers breaking news, all things Real Housewives, and a rich cornucopia of popular culture. Formerly a senior editor at Out magazine, his work has appeared on NewNowNext, Queerty, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker. He was also the first author signed to Phoebe Robinson's Tiny Reparations imprint. He met Oprah once. EW's editorial guidelines Published on November 15, 2022 09:11PM EST The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board didn't make Mariah Carey's wish come truuuuuuuuuuuue, meaning she cannot claim ownership of the title "Queen of Christmas." Elizabeth Chan, known as the world's only full-time Christmas recording artist, blocked Carey's attempt to trademark the honorific, as well as the songbird's concurrent attempts to register the trademarks "Princess Christmas" and "QOC." Elizabeth Chan and Mariah Carey. Brian Ach/Getty; James Devaney/WireImage "This was a classic case of trademark bullying," said Chan's attorney Louis Tompros. "We are pleased with the victory, and delighted that we were able to help Elizabeth fight back against Carey's overreaching trademark registrations." Carey had applied for the exclusive right to use "Queen of Christmas." "PrincessChristmas," and "QOC" on everything from music to perfume to sunglasses to... coconut milk? Had her bid succeeded, the "All I Want for Christmas Is You" chanteuse would have been able to sue the wreaths off anyone for using the royal yuletide title, or ask any media outlet to cease and desist from labeling anyone else the "Queen of Christmas." Chan was not the only singer to take issue with Carey's attempts to further cash in on season's greedings, as Darlene Love pointed out that David Letterman crowned her the Queen of Christmas "a year before [Carey] released 'All I Want for Christmas Is You,' and at 81 years of age I'm NOT changing anything." Love had been performing the classic "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" — which Carey also covered on her 1994 holiday album Merry Christmas — every year for 29 years on Letterman's show, and continued the tradition on The View starting in 2015 following Letterman's exit from late night. Dolly Parton, however, was more than willing to give up the title to La Mimi, telling Better Homes & Gardens, "I'm not going to compete with Mariah ... You think of Christmas, you think of Mariah. I'm happy to be second in line to her." Well, Parton may have to get in the back of the line. Chan, who released an album titled Queen of Christmas in 2013, is serious about protecting the Noel throne not just for her but for any and all future queens. "Christmas is a season of giving, not the season of taking, and it is wrong for an individual to attempt to own and monopolize a nickname like Queen of Christmas for the purposes of abject materialism," Chan said in a statement. She continued, "As an independent artist and small business owner, my life's work is to bring people together for the holiday season, which is how I came to be called the Queen of Christmas. I wear that title as a badge of honor and with full knowledge that it will be — and should be — bestowed on others in the future. My goal in taking on this fight was to stand up to trademark bullying not just to protect myself, but also to protect future Queens of Christmas." Representatives for Carey did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment. Related content: Mariah Carey's attempt to trademark 'Queen of Christmas' ticks off singers Darlene Love and Elizabeth Chan Dolly Parton won't compete with Mariah Carey for Queen of Christmas title: 'I'm happy to be second in line' Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' hits No. 1 on Billboard — for first time ever