Nine-year-old North West might be launching a beauty brand
Kim Kardashian has filed to trademark North West's name on various products, but are celebrity child trademarks just another trend or a strategy for success?
North West might be gearing up to become the next beauty mogul in the Kardashian-West family.
According to documents obtained by Page Six, West’s mom, Kim Kardashian, has filed for trademarks for the names of all four of the children she shares with Kanye West, with updates to her filings for nine-year-old North, as recently as earlier this month.
In addition to a diverse range of toys, North West’s name has reportedly been trademarked for a variety of beauty products, including moisturizers, skin serums, facial oils, bath gels, nail polish, shampoo, hair gel, and more.
The idea of North becoming the CEO of her own brand before she’s even in her teens isn’t too far outside the realm of possibilities. Selling beauty is the Kardashian-Jenner family business, after all. Not to mention North has amassed quite a following through the TikTok account she shares with her mom, where she frequently posts beauty tutorials.
Before we jump to too many conclusions, as stated by Page Six, a trademark doesn’t always mean a company or project is forthcoming. Many celebrities trademark their names or brand names merely to block others from cashing in on their significance later, and they’ve begun to extend this protection to their children — and for good reason.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who have trademarked the names of all three of their children, Blue Ivy and twins Rumi and Sir, finally won the trademark for Blue Ivy Carter in 2020, after two other applicants tried but failed to register a trademark of their own under her name. At that time, the Carters had been dealing with the issue for nearly a decade.
“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,” Beyoncé told Vanity Fair magazine in 2013.
Parents who have preemptively (or protectively) trademarked their children’s names include Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade, who trademarked their daughter Kaavia James Wade’s name after she became memed as the “shady baby”; Cardi B and Offset trademarked their firstborn daughter Kulture’s name in 2018; North West’s aunts, Kylie Jenner and Khloe Kardashian have reportedly trademarked their children’s names; and DJ Khaled filed to trademark his son’s name two days after he was born.
The preemptive or protective trademarking isn’t just about keeping others from being able to make use of the name, though that’s likely a large part. Ensuring their children a promising future, as parents are wont to do, is likely another large driving factor at the heart of this trend. These parents, just like any others, have very little idea beyond their own hopes and wishes as to what will become of their offspring, hence the often wide-sweeping bandwidth of the trademarks. Kulture could go into fashion, Blue Ivy, already a Grammy winner, could start topping the pop charts, or Kaavia could run her own hair and beauty empire someday, just like her mom. Either way, their parents have got their backs — and the rights to their very own LLCs.
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