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 of her signature sounds or phrases. As she gained popularity, fans adopted Cardi’s behaviors, and soon the world was overtaken with mimicking one of 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 officials 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 of applicant’s goods and/or services,” and that it isn’t distinguishable from other similar phrases.
The officials allegedly searched the internet extensively to research “Okurr” and came across thousands of instances where fans or copycats mimicked Cardi. Yet, they also found a few examples of the Kardashians also using a similar phrase. Additionally, before Cardi filed for her trademark in March of this year, there were others who beat her to the punch and filed paperwork of their own.
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