Her famed phrase “Okurr” couldn’t be trademarked.
Before Cardi B stepped into the hip hop scene, the “Press” rapper was already a social media star. She was known for uploading videos where she gave outlandish commentary about any and everything, and occasionally she would drop one her signature sounds or phrases. As she gained popularity, fans adopted Cardi’s behaviors, and soon the world was overtaken with mimicking one her favorite words: “Okurr.”
As any businesswoman would, Cardi decided that it was time to trademark her phrase. However, according to The Blast, U.S. Patent and Trademark ficials have denied her request, stating that her slogan is a “widely-used commonplace expressions” and couldn’t be trademarked. The outlet obtained documents that reportedly state that “Okurr” is a “slogan or term that does not function as a trademark or service mark to indicate the source applicant’s goods and/or services,” and that it isn’t distinguishable from other similar phrases.
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The ficials allegedly searched the internet extensively to research “Okurr” and came across thousands instances where fans or copycats mimicked Cardi. Yet, they also found a few examples the Kardashians also using a similar phrase. Additionally, before Cardi filed for her trademark in March this year, there were others who beat her to the punch and filed paperwork their own.