Hollywood and the United States Patent and Trademark Office shouldn’t be soulmates. One dances to the unpredictable beat of the rich and famous, the other follows the slow, steady hum of bureaucracy. One is purportedly glitzy, glamorous, and the thing of fantasies; the other is a sobering realm where paperwork is processed and filed, and intellectual property regulated.
Yet, a romance has been burgeoning between the two for decades now. The matchmakers? Celebrities themselves. Ralph Lauren registered a trademark for his name in the 1970s; Madonna did the same in the 1980s. Since then, famous people have been known to register not only their own name, but also their children’s, catchphrases they have made popular, and other words and phrases related to their activities.
