The Kardashian family may have their on-air spats but when an outsider threatens the family business, they speak with one voice.
Kim Kardashian West and her sisters, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian, are trying to stop their sister-in-law-to-be Blac Chyna (real name Angela Renee White) from trademarking their name.
In May, the Rob & Chyna reality television star filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to trademark what will become her married name – Angela Renee Kardashian.
Chyna recently gave birth to their brother Robert's first daughter, Dream Kardashian.
According to the documents, the trademark is to be used for "advertising services, namely, promoting the brands, goods and services of others" and "entertainment services, namely, live, televised and movie appearances ... personal appearances and conducting parties."
However, the trio of business women, who have around 95 trademarks registered already – including the likes of Kardashian Beauty, Kardashian Kids and Kardashian Kurves – don't want Chyna to cash in on all of their work. According to TMZ and E!, a legal team for Khloemoney Inc., 2Die4Kourt and Kimsaprincess Inc. filed papers last week to oppose her registration to trademark her future married name.
They say their companies will "suffer damage, including irreparable injury, to their reputation and goodwill" if her request to trademark Kardashian is granted. They add: "[Chyna is] deliberately seeking to profit from the goodwill and popularity" of the Kardashian name.
Kim earned $US51 million ($68 million) in 2015, earning a place on Forbes' annual 100 Highest-Paid Celebrities list and is has an estimated net worth of $150 million, while her sister Kourtney's net worth is estimated at $35 million and Khloe's $40 million.
The Kardashians are Beverly Hills-bred, while Chyna was raised in Washington DC by a single, working class mother and followed in her footsteps to become a stripper at the age of 18.
Raya Barcelon, lawyer and trademarks attorney at LegalVision, told Fairfax Media that however unfair the move seems, the Kardashian sisters may have a case.
"Similar to Australia, owning a trademark registration in the USA will give the trademark owner exclusive rights to use identical or similar trademarks in respect of goods and services specified in the trademark registration. Since the Kardashian sisters own multiple Kardashian trademark registrations in the USA, including for the last name Kardashian, they have the right to stop other people from using this name as a trademark," Ms Barcelon explained.
"This does not mean that they can stop other people from using Kardashian as a person's name ... So even if Blac Chyna is unsuccessful with obtaining a trademark registration, she would still be able to call herself 'Angela Renee Kardashian', but she may not be able to use it to sell products or provide services.
"The opposition against Blac Chyna's trademark application is still pending so the USPTO is yet to decide on the matter. For the Kardashian sisters' opposition to be successful they would have to prove that there is a risk of consumer confusion when the Kardashian trademarks are used in the marketplace alongside Blac Chyna's trademark.
"Opposition proceedings are usually administrative so there is room for the Kardashians and Blac Chyna to negotiate and they probably will."
The Kardashian sisters have long had a fractious relationship with Chyna, which may have been another factor in the legal stoush.
Chyna started out as a friend to Kim, attending her Italian wedding to Kanye West in 2014. But things turned sour when a then 16-year-old Kylie Jenner (Kim's half sister) started dating Chyna's rapper ex, Tyga, also the father of her son King Cairo Stevenson, 4, around the same time as they were breaking up in August, 2014.
The Kardashians may have met their match in Chyna. She triumphantly announced her engagement to Rob almost two years later with an Instagram of a seven-carat diamond engagement ring worth $435,000. Rob, who in the past has struggled with anxiety, depression and weight gain, did not tell his family about his plans to propose and they found out during a ski trip to Vail. A month later she announced her pregnancy with a Chyna emoji.
Ms Barcelon said other Australian examples include the trademark dispute between Kylie Minogue and the Kardashians' half-sister, Kylie Jenner.
"Kylie Minogue owns trademark rights to the name Kylie, among other things," she explained.
"Also, a few years ago Ian Thorpe was successful in obtaining trade mark rights to THORPEDO, his nickname, despite an opposition from sportswear company Torpedoes Sportswear Pty Limited."
Christine Kardashian, group account director at Launch Group in Sydney, whose father is a distant relative of the Kardashians' late father, Robert. snr, has met Kim on two occasions in Australia to speak about their family background, but has not had to face the same opposition Blac Chyna has.
"I haven't tried to trademark my name and there hasn't been anyone from the Kardashian Korporation contact me about my name," she told Fairfax Media.
"I used to have a clothing line under my own name – Christine Kardashian. I did speak to a lawyer at the time to see if it would be a problem and they said, 'no, because that's your name.'"
She said she's not concerned with the prospect of possibly being blocked for trademarking her own name in the future.
"It's not a worry for me. I wouldn't trademark it now. I don't have plans under way to set up a trademark," she said.
"It was my name and I was born with it. It now happens to be a very famous name. Years ago people couldn't even pronounce it, now everyone can spell it."
Fairfax Media have asked the Kardashian family and Blac Chyna for comment, but they have yet to respond.
