I'm a Barbie Girl, in an IP World

Alright, let's hop on this Barbie bandwagon. Better late than never.

For those who might not know, Barbie has a lot of IP. Like, a truly impressive amount in multiple categories. Patents? Yep. Trademarks? Huge check. Copyright? You know it. Trade secrets? One can only assume.

That means this blog post will have to choose some small portion... We've looked at patents for most of the summer, so let's investigate the evolution of one of Barbie's trademarks.

A trademark for the name/designation Barbie, as applied to a doll, was first issued in 1964. It's been renewed multiple times since then, most recently in 2014. The first registration number was 0068905.

The TSDR record for the original Barbie mark

Of course, this does not include any specific text colors or appearance; that came later. The semi-cursive, pink script (that you're hopefully imagining) first appeared in the 1990s, much later than I thought. The registration certificate for mark no. 2110856 doesn't show it, but the mark is for white script on a pink background "and is lined for the color pink". Unfortunately, documentation available from the TSDR does not include more than the registration certificate, so no specimen or official color drawing is available to show here.

The image from reg. no. 2110856 certificate

According to the application, it was first used in 1992 for dolls, doll clothing and doll accessories. Mark no. 2110856 was registered in November, 1997 and cancelled in August of 2004. Evidently, it was cancelled because "registrant did not file an acceptable declaration under Section 8". This refers to Section 8 of the U.S. Code regulating trademarks. No documentation on the cancellation is available via TSDR, so further research would be required to learn more about the context.

There were several Barbie script marks submitted for registration in the 90s; two are still live, each renewed within the last ten years. Registration nos. 2087842 and 2639971 were filed in 1996 and 1998, and granted registration in 1997 and 2002 (both sets of dates respectively). 

Specimen image accompanying reg. no. 2087842

You've likely noticed 2087842 was filed around the same time as the cancelled 2110856; it is also used for the same goods (dolls, doll clothing and doll accessories). Color is not specified in the mark description.

2639971, however, is lined for pink like 2110856, but the goods associated are clothes, costumes, athletic wear, and other garments.

"Barbie" uses the trademarked script protected by reg. no. 2639971. But did Barbie really dump Ken?

Another dead mark, registration no. 2635578, has script similar to 2110856, without the lined cloud-shaped background or specified colors. Filed in 1997, it was registered in 2002, and cancelled in 2009. The associated goods were bath products and cosmetics intended for little girls.

Certificate image of the script for cancelled mark no. 2635578

In 2008, Mattel filed for another Barbie script mark, no color specified, again for goods that included dolls, their clothes and accessories, as well as several other types of toys and playthings. Registered in 2010, no. 3737763 was cancelled in 2016, once more under Section 8. To read the details on that, visit the TSDR page.

Certificate image of the script for cancelled mark no. 3737763

Finally, Mattel applied for one more Barbie script mark in 2021, published July 11, 2023. Serial no. 90509941 doesn't claim a specific color, but the goods associated are, unsurprisingly, dolls and toy figures. It is no stretch of the imagination to guess that this slightly altered script intentionally matches the style from the Barbie movie. 

Look familiar?

Just looking at the Barbie scripts should provide some indication of the amount of marks and other IP owned by Mattel for Barbie. Hundreds of word marks were sorted through to find this short list of specific scripts. The Barbie IP Empire is massive and generates billions in income.

BONUS: The first Barbie patent was not for the doll's design, but mostly for its construction that allowed it stand upright with the help of pins. Barbie was originally created with feet that couldn't support the doll. Evidently that's changed, but it was after I stopped regularly encountering them. 

"If my feet were shaped like this, I'd never wear heels!"