LSU women’s basketball star [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] has made headlines for her play on the court, but she’s also drawn a lot of attention due to her NIL profile off the court.
Reese is one of the highest-valued college athletes in the country when it comes to NIL and has partnered with some of the biggest brands in the nation. However, Reese will not be selling merchandise with her nickname “Bayou Barbie.”
An attempt to trademark the phrase was rejected in November by the US Patent and Trademark Office, and according to a report from On3’s Pete Nakos, Reese’s camp has abandoned the attempt to trademark the nickname, allowing the 90-day appeal deadline to pass.
“We discussed internally and determined that it was in Angel’s best interest to not unnecessarily instigate Mattel,” IP and NIL attorney Darren Heitner, who filed for the trademark, said per On3. “While initially it seemed worthy to obtain the registration, Angel has pivoted away from selling Bayou Barbie merchandise. As such, the appropriate business decision was made to simply let the application abandon.”
In the initial rejection in November, the USPTO cited possible confusion with the “Barbie” brand, which Mattel owns.
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