Martha Stewart: Controlling Your Celebrity Brand



From home goods sold at Kmart and Macy's, a television show, books, magazines, and even her own radio show, Martha Stewart has built an incredibly successful empire based upon her brand.   A search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) Website Database yields fifty “live” hits for Martha Stewart, including, among others:

  • MARTHA STEWART LIVING (Registration No. 3313881) for use on “pre-recorded musical CDs.”
  • MARTHA STEWART LIVING (Registration No. 3252369) for use with “ongoing radio programs in the fields of homemaking, home care, cooking, housekeeping, decorating, gardening, entertaining, weddings, crafts, antique collecting, and holiday planning; production of radio programs.” 
  • MARTHA STEWART EVERYDAY (Registration No. 3033100) for use on “furniture for the home, office, kitchen and bedroom; entertainment units and cabinets; kitchen cabinets.”
  • MARTHA STEWART SIGNATURE (Registration No. 2846568) for use on “interior and exterior paints.”
  • MARTHA STEWART SIGNATURE (Registration No. 2846567) for use on “hardwood flooring, laminated wood flooring, ceramic tiles, porcelain tiles and natural stone flooring.”
  • MARTHA STEWART SIGNATURE (Registration No. 2846566) for use on “carpets, area rugs and linoleum for use on floors.”
  • MARTHA STEWART EVERYDAY (Registration No. 2793077) for use on “ornamental ribbons made of textiles; bows for gift wrapping.”
  • MARTHA STEWART EVERYDAY (Registration No. 2793075) for use on “gift wrapping paper, metallic gift wrapping paper, tissue paper, paper bows, paper gift wrapping ribbon, cardboard and corrugated gift boxes, plastic and fabric gift bags, and paper gift tags.”
  • MARTHA STEWART EVERYDAY (Registration No. 2858817) for use on “artificial Christmas trees, artificial Christmas wreaths, artificial Christmas garlands, Christmas tree decorations, namely, ornaments, skirts, stands, and stand covers; Christmas wreath hangers and stands, Christmas stocking and stocking holders, and snow globes.”
  • MARTHA STEWART EVERYDAY GARDEN (Registration No. 2708561) for use on “gardening tools, namely, trowels, spades, hand-operated shears, pruning shears, shovels, rakes, bulb planters and edgers.”
  • MARTHA STEWART EVERYDAY GARDEN (Registration No. 2712763) for use on “dried plants; living plants and shrubs; live vegetable plants; flower bulbs; live trees; mulch; peat moss; birdseed; top soil; vegetable seeds; seed starter kits comprised mainly of soil, vegetable and flower seeds, and growing containers.”
  • MARTHA STEWART WEDDINGS (Registration No. 2628567) for use on “magazines and books in the field of weddings and wedding planning.”
  • MARTHA STEWART HOME (Registration No. 2499750) for use on “decorative upholstery, drapery, curtain and window treatment fabrics.”


All of these registrations are currently owned by a business entity, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.    A point of interest is that the oldest MARTHA STEWART Registrations were not filed in the name of Martha Stewart or even her company.  The applications filed for the AT HOME WITH MARTHA STEWART mark (now Registration No. 1560990) and AT HOME WITH MARTHA STEWART + Design mark (now Registration No. 1566030) for use on “bed sheets, comforters, pillow shams, dust ruffles, curtains, drapes, table cloths and accessory fabric for home decorating" were originally filed in the name of Kmart Corporation.  These registrations were later assigned to Martha Stewart’s business entity Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.  

Why is this important?  I believe that it is always important for a celebrity to own rights in his or her name.   When I was younger, I collected dolls by a local Pittsburgh doll designer named Robin Woods (I even went to ballet school with her daughter Mimi!).  Robin designed dolls under the ROBIN WOODS mark and had her own company, Robin Woods, Inc.  When she had differences of opinion with others in the company, she left.  Unfortunately for Robin, the company owned the trademarks and rights into her name.  She was forced to design under the name ALICE DARLING for Madame Alexander.   I don’t know what happened to Robin or the ROBIN WOODS and ALICE DARLING lines, but I was aware of trademarks and the importance of allowing others to use your name at a very young age.

Why did Martha Stewart allow Kmart to register her name?  There’s no way to know the negotiations between the parties or the reasoning of her attorneys.   However, the later assignment of the marks back to Martha does evidence the strength and value of her brand since she was able to renegotiate the contract terms to allow the transfer of ownership and control of these marks back to her company.  Since Martha’s company now owns all of her trademarks, she could technically license those marks for use on any products and services (assuming that her contract with Kmart would allow it).   However, like Oprah, Martha has been conservative with registering and using her name on a wide variety of different types of goods, and a future MARTHA STEWART perfume or clothing line may not be likely.  Then again, who can predict the future?  Would you have ever foreseen a Macy's commercial with Martha and Usher?
 
 
 
Aimee Kaplan - the trademark attorney dedicated to celebrity brands

Copyright 2007 Aimee Kaplan
Posted by Aimee Kaplan at 10/30/2007 12:00 AM
Categories: M (Name), Housewares, Media/Entertainment, Television, S (Name), Home Goods, Radio, Magazines, Entrepreneur
 
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