Mariah Carey's 'Queen of Christmas' Trademark Sparks Backlash

The "All I Want for Christmas is You" singer, whose 1994 cover of the song consistently tops charts every December, filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office last March for the “Queen of Christmas” title after her song’s generation-spanning success. Her claim to the throne cites a Billboard article from last year that refers to the singer as the “undisputed queen of Christmas,” but she is being met with opposition.

Darlene Love, whose hit carol “Baby Please Come Home” earned her the title of “Queen of Christmas” from David Letterman in 1993 (one year before Carey’s song), argues that the title is not Carey’s for the taking and should not be associated with either singer. Full-time Christmas singer and songwriter Elizabeth Chan joined the fight, arguing that Carey “can’t monopolize Christmas” and therefore the title should just remain a nickname. Unlike Darlene, Chan has made a formal challenge against Carey’s application, as it directly runs up against Chan’s 2021 holiday album Queen of Christmas and her 2018 New Yorker profile, which bears the same title.

“Christmas has come way before any of us on Earth, and hopefully will be around way after any of us on Earth,” Chan opened up to Variety. “And I feel very strongly that no one person should hold onto anything around Christmas or monopolize it in the way that Mariah seeks to in perpetuity.”

Should she be unable to claim “Queen of Christmas” as her own, TMZ reports that she is also looking into registering “Princess Christmas” and “Christmas Princess,” but who knows which other Princesses of Christmas might suddenly appear to defend their titles.

Photo via BFA